[wp-hackers] Plugin Management issue...

[jill]

Matt Mullenweg wrote:

>jill wrote:
>
>> IMO as a user, if loading order is determined by the  order in which I activate plugins, 
>that's
>> a good deal easier to fine-tune than if it's determined by filename.
>
>A user should never have to worry about loading order in the first place. 

I would love to, but if plugins I want to use depend on it, then I don't have a lot of choice.
So far as *writing* plugins goes, I can certainly strive to ensure mine are independent of
each one's rung on the ladder, but that doesn't help when I'm trying to get someone else's
stuff to work the way they intended, and one of the criteria is that they load in a particular
order.

Last night you wrote:
>I'd like to stick with filenames. Alphabetical loading seems logical. Then 
>people can prefix their plugin with a number if they want it to load first.

This works if the dependencies/conflicts are confined to a set of related plugins all
supported by a single author, and if the author takes care to name their files accordingly. If
he or she does not, or several authors are involved independently of each other, then the
user is the one who will have to work out how to resolve any loading-order conflicts.

You seem to be considering changing how the loading order works (to make it easier for
authors of multiple dependent plugins to assure themselves of a constant order). If that's on
the table, then I think it's worth considering how to make it straightforward for end users to
cope with scenarios other than best-case.

pericat
-- 
<http://pericat.ca/>