[wp-hackers] Automatic feedback from users

[Omry Yadan]

This is what I initially thought, plugins that are not compatible with
the version of wp may break the blog (even with the mechanism for
detecting syntax errors).

I think it would be best to simply ask the user the question if he never
answered it, and do it in the admin section.

the logic can be as follows:


if (get_option('user_agrees_to_send_system_info') == null)

{

   $answer = ask the user();

   update_option('user_agrees_to_send_system_info', $answer);

}


if you want to something similar in action, install FireStats 1.3 and
see. it's the first question I ask the user.


btw:

I keep the information I sent to the server serialized, so if it changes
(PHP version was upgraded for example), I will send it again.

for this reason, I also provide UI for the user to say he no longer agrees.


    Omry.




Computer Guru wrote:

> Simple enough: _WordPress_ upgrade should automatically disable
> plugins and make a list of which were active.
>
> This list can be uploaded to a server somewhere, and even better, once
> upgrade is complete it can attempt to re-enable that list.
>
> This will hit two birds with one stone:
> The list of plugins
> Issues caused by users not disabling plugins when updating.
>
> On 9/15/07, Callum Macdonald <lists.automattic.com at callum-macdonald.com> wrote:
>   
>> Omry, you misunderstand.
>>
>> If the user disables their plugins before running the update, how can we
>> record which plugins are active?
>>
>> As I said in my previous email, "I've heard talk about auto-notifying
>> users when plugins are updated." I believe this is already being
>> implemented as part of the move wp-plugins.org. Therefore, I was
>> suggesting adding the statistic gathering onto the existing project, not
>> the other way round.
>>
>> Cheers - Callum.
>>
>> Omry Yadan wrote:
>>     
>>> 1.
>>>
>>> I was thinking in the direction of having this functionality in
>>> WordPress core, and not as a plugin, so your concern about disabling the
>>> plugins is not relevant.
>>>
>>> I can think of a few options to ask, for example in the initial
>>> installation screen we can have a sentence with a checkbox (for
>>> installing users), and we can also pop up some message in the admin
>>> screen if a user never answered the question before (by saying yes or no).
>>>
>>>
>>> 2. see below.
>>>
>>>
>>> 3. this is a part of the system information I think we can send once the
>>> user say it's okay to send system information.
>>>
>>> in FireStats I send the following bits (not all are relevant to wp, but
>>> to get the idea):
>>>
>>> /**
>>>  * System information includes:
>>>  * Unique firestats id
>>>  * FireStats version
>>>  * Installation time
>>>  * PHP version
>>>  * MySQL version
>>>  * Server software (apache? IIS? which version?)
>>>  * Memory limit
>>>  * Number of sites monitored
>>>  * Number of sites monitored from each type (how many wordpress blogs,
>>> how many drupals etc).
>>>  */
>>>
>>>
>>> for wp we can also add plugin and their versions.
>>>
>>> its tempting to add a notification mechanism that tells the user about
>>> updates, but let's not mix those two things.
>>>
>>> this should be strictly for statistics, I don't think it would be wise
>>> to bundle any functionality with it.
>>>
>>> something like that should probably be implemented and designed separately.
>>>
>>>
>>> Personally I don't have much time to put into coding this, but I will be
>>> willing to provide code that does similar things, for both the server
>>> and client side, to kickstart the effort.
>>>
>>>
>>> Callum Macdonald wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>>> I think this is a great idea and would provide some excellent data to
>>>> base decisions on. It would also be fascinating data.
>>>>
>>>> Questions:
>>>>
>>>> 1) At what point would we ask the user to give permission? You
>>>> mentioned the Upgrade script, I think that would be sensible, except,
>>>> users are "supposed" to disable all their plugins before they upgrade.
>>>>
>>>> 2) I've heard talk about auto-notifying users when plugins are
>>>> updated. Could we add this functionality? If each WordPress
>>>> installation has a unique ID we could easily gather stats.
>>>>
>>>> 3) Could we add a second question to the install? Currently we ask
>>>> "Notify XXX about new posts", we could also add "Notify WordPress.org
>>>> about my server environment, plugins and tell me about plugin updates".
>>>>
>>>> I'd also be happy to put some time into this.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers - Callum.
>>>>
>>>> Omry Yadan wrote:
>>>>
>>>>         
>>>>> Hi all.
>>>>>
>>>>> when developing software, in many cases we are guessing things and
>>>>> continuing assuming this guess is true.
>>>>>
>>>>> that's the nature of the work, and this will not change.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> recent examples:
>>>>>
>>>>> * sticking with PHP4 for now: based on the guess that PHP4 is still
>>>>> dominant and will stay dominant in the near future.
>>>>>
>>>>> * holding on to PHPMailer: based on the guess that it's good enough for
>>>>> 90% of the users.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> and so on.
>>>>>
>>>>> wouldn't it be nice if at least for some of those things, you would be
>>>>> able to base your actions on facts instead of on guesses?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> In FireStats 1.3, I added an option for users to send me system
>>>>> information.
>>>>>
>>>>> on the first run, I ask them if they agree, and if they do I send the
>>>>> information to my server when ever something changes.
>>>>>
>>>>> this allow me to get a good idea about the popularity of various php
>>>>> versions and mysql versions among my users, as well as to know about
>>>>> some usage patterns (in my case - how many sites each instance of
>>>>> FireStats is monitoring on average, for example).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I intend to make some of the information I obtain public when I get the
>>>>> time, for now just take a look at this:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://misc.firestats.cc
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> so, my suggestion is to add a similar mechanism to WordPress.
>>>>>
>>>>> this can also send a list of plugins users are using, provide a lot of
>>>>> information on what users want from WordPress.
>>>>>
>>>>> for example, if you find that 15% of the users are using some kind of
>>>>> email plugin, it's a pretty strong indication that the "90% of the users
>>>>> are happy with current mail support" is false.
>>>>>
>>>>> another example: if you see that 10% of the users have some kind of
>>>>> podcast plugin installed, it's a strong indication that at least 10% of
>>>>> the users of WordPress are podcasting.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I am willing to help on the technical level with this, I have a pretty
>>>>> robust solution for this that will work even if the server does not have
>>>>> http access (data is sent from the client browser).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> just to stress the a point here:
>>>>>
>>>>> I am not suggesting spying on users: we will only get information from
>>>>> users that agree to help.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     Omry.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>           
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