[wp-hackers] Accessing Update Check API Outside of WordPress

Sun Nov 11 16:26:34 UTC 2012

Glad I could help. That is kinda interesting if you look at plugins
its O:8:"stdClass":
which unless I'm mistaken indicates its a serialized object. Themes does
not do that, it looks like a regular serialized array which is a bit
odd that's its inconsistent but I am glad I helped.

On Sun, Nov 11, 2012 at 8:17 AM, Mark Smith <mark.smith1187 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> That was very helpful cloudpress. Using your method it was much easier to
> see what is sent and I figured out what exactly is sent for themes.
>
> array(3) { ["current_theme"]=> string(10) "twentyeleven"
> ["twentyeleven"]=> array(7) { ["Name"]=> string(13) "Twenty Eleven"
> ["Title"]=> string(13) "Twenty Eleven" ["Version"]=> string(3) "1.3"
> ["Author"]=> string(18) "the WordPress team" ["Author URI"]=> string(21) "
> http://wordpress.org/" ["Template"]=> string(12) "twentyeleven"
> ["Stylesheet"]=> string(12) "twentyeleven" } ["twentyten"]=> array(7) {
> ["Name"]=> string(10) "Twenty Ten" ["Title"]=> string(10) "Twenty Ten"
> ["Version"]=> string(3) "1.4" ["Author"]=> string(18) "the WordPress team"
> ["Author URI"]=> string(0) "" ["Template"]=> string(9) "twentyten"
> ["Stylesheet"]=> string(9) "twentyten" }
> }
> Thank you so much for your help.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: CloudPress Hosting <cloudpresshosting at gmail.com>
> To: wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
> Cc:
> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2012 12:14 AM
> Subject: Re: [wp-hackers] Accessing Update Check API Outside of WordPress
>
> <shameless plug>
> If anyone is interested I have decided to blog about customizations I am
> making to WordPress starting with a post about this.
>
>
> http://hackingwp.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/wordpress-org-update-checking-api/
> </shameless plug>
>
> It was an interesting concept I just wanted to share since I kinda like the
> idea of what the OP was trying to accomplish anyway hope that helped your
> out Mark.
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 11:26 PM, CloudPress Hosting <
> cloudpresshosting at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Can't say that I knew how the API worked before but with a little clever
> > hacking I modified a test install of WordPress to post the request to
> > requestb.in then looked at what was posted.
> >
> > The WordPress site posts a serialized string. The key is "plugins" and
> > this is what the value of that post data looks like.
> >
> >
> >
> O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:7:"plugins";a:2:{s:19:"akismet/akismet.php";a:11:{s:4:"Name";s:7:"Akismet";s:9:"PluginURI";s:31:"
> > http://akismet.com/?return=true
> ";s:7:"Version";s:5:"2.5.6";s:11:"Description";s:481:"Used
> > by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to
> > <strong>protect your blog from comment and trackback spam</strong>. It
> > keeps your site protected from spam even while you sleep. To get started:
> > 1) Click the "Activate" link to the left of this description, 2) <a
> href="
> > http://akismet.com/get/?return=true">Sign up for an Akismet API key</a>,
> > and 3) Go to your <a href="admin.php?page=akismet-key-config">Akismet
> > configuration</a> page, and save your API
> > key.";s:6:"Author";s:10:"Automattic";s:9:"AuthorURI";s:40:"
> > http://automattic.com/wordpress-plugins/
> ";s:10:"TextDomain";s:0:"";s:10:"DomainPath";s:0:"";s:7:"Network";b:0;s:5:"Title";s:7:"Akismet";s:10:"AuthorName";s:10:"Automattic";}s:9:"hello.php";a:11:{s:4:"Name";s:11:"Hello
> > Dolly";s:9:"PluginURI";s:48:"
> > http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/hello-dolly/
> ";s:7:"Version";s:3:"1.6";s:11:"Description";s:295:"This
> > is not just a plugin, it symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire
> > generation summed up in two words sung most famously by Louis Armstrong:
> > Hello, Dolly. When activated you will randomly see a lyric from
> > <cite>Hello, Dolly</cite> in the upper right of your admin screen on
> every
> > page.";s:6:"Author";s:14:"Matt Mullenweg";s:9:"AuthorURI";s:13:"
> > http://ma.tt/
> ";s:10:"TextDomain";s:0:"";s:10:"DomainPath";s:0:"";s:7:"Network";b:0;s:5:"Title";s:11:"Hello
> > Dolly";s:10:"AuthorName";s:14:"Matt Mullenweg";}}s:6:"active";a:0:{}}
> >
> > A bit of a mess but if you unserialize it then var_dump the resulting
> > array you can more easily see what it shows. It basically has all the
> meta
> > data for each plugin. Post that to
> > http://api.wordpress.org/plugins/update-check/1.0/ using cURL and what I
> > got back was an empty serialized string, meaning all plugins were up to
> > date. Modify one of the version numbers in the serialized string that is
> > sent to be a previous version number and what I get back is a serialized
> > string of meta data on the plugin with an available update like this.
> >
> >
> >
> a:1:{s:19:"akismet/akismet.php";O:8:"stdClass":5:{s:2:"id";s:2:"15";s:4:"slug";s:7:"akismet";s:11:"new_version";s:5:"2.5.6";s:3:"url";s:44:"
> > http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/";s:7:"package";s:55:"
> > http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/akismet.2.5.6.zip";}}
> >
> > I would assume themes won't be much different.
> >
> > That was an interesting exercise though I should make a blog post about
> > it. Also I have to admit I like the idea to use your own script to detect
> > updates and just email you, I might consider making something similar
> since
> > I manage multiple WordPress sites for myself and for my clients. Thanks
> for
> > the idea.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 10:01 PM, Mark Smith <mark.smith1187 at yahoo.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >> I run numerous sites. Rather than have each site use the built in update
> >> check I have disabled all update checks from the site via a plugin I
> made.
> >>
> >> Instead I am building a php based cron job that will query the
> >> api.wordpress.org site to check for updates and send me an email
> >> notification. Personally I prefer that to the constant nags in
> WordPress to
> >> upgrade. While I install minor upgrades as soon as they come out often
> >> times I will wait on new major version having to see a nag until I do.
> >>
> >> Core updates were easy enough, a simple cURL request to
> >> http://api.wordpress.org/core/version-check/1.6/ returns a serialized
> >> string which includes the current stable release version.
> >>
> >> $output = unserialize($output);
> >> $current_version = $output['offers'][0]['current'];
> >> unset($output);
> >>
> >> Gets me the version number currently available which I can check against
> >> my installed versions easily enough.
> >>
> >> Plugins and themes are a bit more difficult because I have to post data
> >> about what plugins and themes I am checking.  This is obviously not
> >> documented, the only documentation is a list of the API endpoints at
> >> http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress.org_API.
> >>
> >> I took a look at update.php to see how WordPress does it but
> >> the myriad of WordPress functions seems to just confuse me as to what
> >> exactly is being posted to the API endpoints
> >> http://api.wordpress.org/plugins/update-check/1.0/ and
> >> http://api.wordpress.org/themes/update-check/1.0/. Can anyone explain
> to
> >> me what eactly needs to be posted to get the current version of each
> plugin
> >> and theme.
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> wp-hackers mailing list
> >> wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
> >> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
> >>
> >
> >
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