[wp-hackers] 2.8 plugins page

[mikeschinkel at newclarity.net]

+1 on all counts.

-Mike Schinkel
Sent from my iPhone

On May 12, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Stephen Rider <wp- 
hackers at striderweb.com> wrote:

> Hi all --
>
> I wanted to discuss the changes to the Plugins page for WP 2.8.
>
> * First, I definitely prefer to have all plugins on one long page  
> rather than splitting them every 20 plugins.  It's just a lot more  
> clicking around to find what I want now.  Plus, with one long page,  
> I can (in Firefox) just type the plugin name and jump right to it --  
> not so if the plugin I want is on the next page....
>
> * Second, why are we now only showing the Action links on  
> mouseover?  This one in particular looks like change for change's  
> sake.  ***How does this improve usability??***
>
> I think this was a mistake especially as more and more plugin  
> authors are putting in links to the Settings page in the Action  
> links.  (A trend I myself have championed, responding to the  
> frequent complaint that it was hard to figure out where a plugin's  
> configuration was located in the menus.)
>
> (One more point about this one -- changing the number of columns in  
> the Plugins list messes up any existing plugins that were using the  
> "after row" hook.  If there's strong reason to do it, so be it --  
> but don't do it on a whim!)
>
> Please reconsider the mouseover Action links.  Just make them visible.
>
> * Third -- I am... ambivalent... about re-combining the active and  
> inactive plugins.  No personal preference, except I don't like the  
> indecisiveness -- they were together, then we separated them, and  
> now we're combining them again.  If we're bouncing back and forth it  
> sounds as though we don't have a strong reason for either, so maybe  
> just leave it alone?
>
> Overall, I guess I'm against arbitrary interface changes without  
> strong reason for the change.  I'm not talking minor stuff like CSS  
> colors, but structural changes.  With a system like WordPress that  
> so strongly encourages customization via plugin, we should be very  
> careful not to keep stirring things around and undermining those  
> same plugins on a whim.
>
> Of course it's a case of where to draw the line -- you don't want to  
> eliminate any changes or the program will stagnate, but when making  
> a change, we must ask "What is the reason for this?" -- and if the  
> answer is "I just like it better", tread carefully.  Compatibility  
> is important.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> -- 
> Stephen Rider
> http://striderweb.com/
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