[wp-hackers] WordPress plugin list

[Zarniwoop]

Some of my thoughts about the "plugin problem" (and WP):

1. There needs to be a link on the WP site!!!!

There is a link called "Hacks" on the WP page but I don't want hacks.
There is actually no way for new users to find the plugin list in the
wiki (of at least the wiki itself). The same problem happens for
documentation which is completely outdated (who uses 1.0 anymore). I
know it can be found in the wiki but there is no link to it. IMHO the
WP site needs a general overhaul.


2. Different versions of WP

We need a way to distinguish between different versions of WP (1.0,
1.2, 1.3,... ) because the plugin API evolves. For example looking for
hacks in the wiki is really painful because they are not sorted by
version (does it work only for 1.0 or can I use it with 1.2?). The
same thing will happen for plugins when 1.3 will be released. There
are already some plugins which work for 1.2 but fail in 1.3.

I would suggest a compatibility key for plugins which WP versions are
supported. Then you could have a database saying: "plugin xy, version
8.0 supports WP 1.2 and 1.3". This way an end user can easily get a
list of all plugins which are available _and work with his installed
WP version_! If version 8.0 is incompatible with his install, due to
some changes in the plugin API, maybe an earlier version will do it
for him. I also may like browsing through plugins by category (with
short descriptions) and see which versions are supported (maybe I will
upgrade WP if I can get a really useful plugin which needs it). A
screenshot provided by the plugin author is also a nice idea (to see
what you can get and if it's worth installing it). Maybe this can be
incorporated in the general Website overhaul.


Please have a look at the gentoo package database
(http://packages.gentoo.org/) as a proof of concept. You can search
packages by name, browse by category, see which have recently been
updated or added, all with changelogs and link to the homepage. There
is a compatibility chart for each package which version supports which
platform (replace it by WP version) and if it is stable, unstable or
not available (to be replaced by "tested", "should work", "not
available"). Maybe we can even contact the gentoo devs and ask if we
can use their package database and adapt it to our needs instead of
reinventing the wheel.