[wp-hackers] support for custoim post types + custom feilds

[eric at eamann.com]

So let's put together a checklist.  Quite a few plug-in developers follow this
mailing list, so if we build a checklist and mark it as complete (perhaps even
add a page to the plug-in development section of the codex?) then it gives us
the foundation for a standard.
 
So far you've covered a few points:
1) Clean install/uninstall (document what options and db tables are created -
remove both on uninstall).
2) Version compatibility (the WP site already has a framework in place for this,
but it's not as explicit as many of us would like - maybe set a few standard
tests and checks to verify it works with each version?  Like a documented list
of which WP functions the plug-in depends on which can easily be compared to the
list of out-dated/deprecated/unsupported functions in core).
 
Some things I'd like to see are explicit guarantees of support.  When is the
plug-in released?  Who is the individual responsible for coordinating support if
something breaks?  How long does the author intend to support the plug-in?
 There are people still using a plug-in I wrote years ago that I've stated many
times I no longer support (the functionality it provides is now a part of core
and redundant), but I still get the occasional "X broke when I did Y" email.
 
If we put together a standard, then it's a quick matter for plug-in authors to
say "My plug-in meets the ---- standard as of 6/21/2010" and offer that
additional level of comfort for end-users.  It also makes it easy to audit that
statement if, for example, an author failed to actually test against a new
release.

 

On June 21, 2010 at 4:46 PM Curtis McHale <curtis at curtismchale.ca> wrote:

> Yeah that's probably pretty close. Like I said if there was a more
> robust system for plugins to get into the repository or a checklist that
> plugins had to match up against I believe that some of the issues would
> not be present.
>
> scribu wrote:
> > Summarizing what I've read so far:
> >
> > Plugins are for hobbyists. Serious sites don't trust them.
> >
> > Themes are ok, because [unlike plugins?!] their code can be reviewed.
> >
> >   
>
> --
> Curtis McHale
>
> 604.751.3482
> http://curtismchale.ca
> http://twitter.com/curtismchale
> http://ca.linkedin.com/in/curtismchale
>
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