[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #63925: Can we get some better rules in place for plugins.....

[WordPress Trac]

#63925: Can we get some better rules in place for plugins.....
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 Reporter:  michaelcropper  |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement     |      Status:  closed
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:
Component:  Plugins         |     Version:
 Severity:  normal          |  Resolution:  maybelater
 Keywords:                  |     Focuses:
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Changes (by peterwilsoncc):

 * status:  new => closed
 * resolution:   => maybelater
 * component:  General => Plugins
 * milestone:  Awaiting Review =>


Comment:

 Hi @michaelcropper and welcome to trac!

 As someone who has rewritten plugins due to, in my opinion, unnecessary
 top level menus I get it. I really do.

 I've also added code to my site to deal with plugins adding admin notices
 or bright red notification icons; either because they're either not
 actually notifications or otherwise unnecessary. (Not mentioning names,
 but most recently for a plugin with 4+ million active installs.)

 For plugins in the WordPress.org repository, there are
 [https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/detailed-plugin-
 guidelines/ detailed guidelines] on what is and is not allowed.

 As a core contributor, it's frustrating because people blame WordPress for
 the abuse of plugins. As a user it's even more frustrating dealing with
 this kind of crap.

 Here's the but that you probably figured out is coming.

 Unfortunately there isn't much Core Contributors can do in WordPress
 itself for a couple of reasons:

 * for some plugins, users are best served by a top level menu. Using
 WooCommerce* as an example, `WooCommerce > Orders` is much better than
 `Plugins > WooCommerce > Orders`. Do they need three? Probably not, but at
 least one does make sense.
 * an allow list would be problematic at best. If WordPress put one
 analytics plugin on the allow list but not another, it would open core
 contributors up to accusations of bias. On social media this could come
 with abuse towards volunteers
 * mainly though, if Core stopped plugins registering sub menus, plugin
 developers would start using and abusing other code (such as the menu
 global variable). At least with the menu API there's an official way of
 doing things and anything outside of that isn't subject to compatibility
 promises.

 If you find a plugin in the official WordPress.org plugin repo going
 against the guidelines, then the best thing to do is to email the plugins
 team plugins@ wordpress.org. For premium plugins, I recommend voting with
 your wallet if you think they're ruining the dashboard experience.

 There are currently plans to redesign the WordPress dashboard, there may
 be some opportunity to address this issue as part of that, so I'll close
 this as maybe later.

 Again, I understand the frustration and feel it too, which is why I wanted
 to give you as much background as possible -- even if it is a bit of a
 blog post.

 \* Disclosure: I work on the team at
 [https://x.com/jamesckemp/status/1935808914483749118 10up working with
 WooCommerce].

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63925#comment:1>
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