[wp-hackers] What goes in core and plugins

[Matt Mullenweg]

Since this came up in a previous thread I thought that this would be a 
good time to sort out my thoughts on this.

We have two main goals with WordPress: to have an elegant product that 
works well and to provide the best user experience possible. Part of 
providing the best experience is having features that people want.

At the same time we have another goal we're working toward: making the 
plugin API as flexible as possible (without becoming too complicated) so 
people can easily address niche needs with WordPress.

There are things in WP now that arguably don't absolutely need to be 
there, but everything is a balance and a process. So with every feature 
three questions need to be asked:

1. Will this appeal to a broad spectrum of users?
2. How does this change the way things currently work?
3. If this were a plugin, would it work?

Also remember just because something is a plugin doesn't mean it's 
destined for obscurity. As we streamline how plugins are cataloged and 
publicized  Right now there are a few plugins included with the WP 
distribution and I'd like to tidy this up a bit and even move some 
functionality that's currently in the core into plugins that can be turned 
on and off.

-- 
Matt Mullenweg
  http://photomatt.net | http://wordpress.org
http://pingomatic.com | more soon...