[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #14179: Theme asking to update (theme with same name on WordPress.org)

[WordPress Trac]

#14179: Theme asking to update (theme with same name on WordPress.org)
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 Reporter:  design_dolphin  |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)    |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:  WordPress.org
Component:  Themes          |     Version:
 Severity:  normal          |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                  |     Focuses:
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Comment (by joyously):

 > The process of generating the hashes for all the themes/plugins on .org
 would be a tremendous undertaking for a (relatively) small benefit

 That is just one way to do it. It would not need to have a database or
 generating hashes for all versions. The API could generate the hash when
 the theme/plugin is checked for updates. No need to pre-calculate them
 all. A database could be used, however, to store the hashes already
 calculated.

 > Not to mention the extra complexity added to the update API

 Extra complexity is needed, because the simple one that exists now has
 problems.

 > the possibility of a user making a tiny edit to the theme/plugin header,
 screwing up their hash value and breaking update checks.

 If you only use a few fields, it's unlikely that tiny edits will affect
 the hash. Or, to make it more bulletproof, hash the entire file and
 present the user with enough information to decide for himself if the
 update is applicable or not.

 > a GUID in the theme/plugin header

 That doesn't solve the problem of old themes/plugins or child themes.
 There would be a lot of them without a GUID. This will be the same as is
 being proposed for the minimum PHP version. It's fine for everything being
 updated, but all those things not updated are where the problem lies.

 > a private flag to prevent update checks from occurring at all

 This is the same problem. Child themes, old themes/plugins won't have the
 new flag. The change needs to happen on the repo side of things to handle
 all the cases.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/14179#comment:32>
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