[wp-hackers] 2.8 plugins page

[Bryan Harley]

Agreed, I hate the fact that the active and inactive plugins are
grouped together again.  I know it was done for the sake of interface
consistency.  But it just degrades usability on the plugins page
(specifically).

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:13 AM,  <mikeschinkel at newclarity.net> wrote:
> +1 on all counts.
>
> -Mike Schinkel
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 12, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Stephen Rider <wp-hackers at striderweb.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi all --
>>
>> I wanted to discuss the changes to the Plugins page for WP 2.8.
>>
>> * First, I definitely prefer to have all plugins on one long page rather
>> than splitting them every 20 plugins.  It's just a lot more clicking around
>> to find what I want now.  Plus, with one long page, I can (in Firefox) just
>> type the plugin name and jump right to it -- not so if the plugin I want is
>> on the next page....
>>
>> * Second, why are we now only showing the Action links on mouseover?  This
>> one in particular looks like change for change's sake.  ***How does this
>> improve usability??***
>>
>> I think this was a mistake especially as more and more plugin authors are
>> putting in links to the Settings page in the Action links.  (A trend I
>> myself have championed, responding to the frequent complaint that it was
>> hard to figure out where a plugin's configuration was located in the menus.)
>>
>> (One more point about this one -- changing the number of columns in the
>> Plugins list messes up any existing plugins that were using the "after row"
>> hook.  If there's strong reason to do it, so be it -- but don't do it on a
>> whim!)
>>
>> Please reconsider the mouseover Action links.  Just make them visible.
>>
>> * Third -- I am... ambivalent... about re-combining the active and
>> inactive plugins.  No personal preference, except I don't like the
>> indecisiveness -- they were together, then we separated them, and now we're
>> combining them again.  If we're bouncing back and forth it sounds as though
>> we don't have a strong reason for either, so maybe just leave it alone?
>>
>> Overall, I guess I'm against arbitrary interface changes without strong
>> reason for the change.  I'm not talking minor stuff like CSS colors, but
>> structural changes.  With a system like WordPress that so strongly
>> encourages customization via plugin, we should be very careful not to keep
>> stirring things around and undermining those same plugins on a whim.
>>
>> Of course it's a case of where to draw the line -- you don't want to
>> eliminate any changes or the program will stagnate, but when making a
>> change, we must ask "What is the reason for this?" -- and if the answer is
>> "I just like it better", tread carefully.  Compatibility is important.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> --
>> Stephen Rider
>> http://striderweb.com/
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