[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #3069: Plugin Directory: Add dates to Changelog section in readme.txt example

[Making WordPress.org]

#3069: Plugin Directory: Add dates to Changelog section in readme.txt example
------------------------------+------------------
 Reporter:  SergeyBiryukov    |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |   Milestone:
Component:  Plugin Directory  |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                    |
------------------------------+------------------

Comment (by SergeyBiryukov):

 Replying to [comment:6 Otto42]:
 > Those headers are parsed and read and used for various things. They need
 to be version numbers only, they cannot contain dates as well.

 Plugin authors already include dates there without noticeable issues, see
 [https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms/#developers Ninja Forms] for
 example. That changelog is correctly displayed in both [attachment:3069
 .plugin-directory.PNG Plugin Directory] and [attachment:3069.plugin-
 directory.PNG WP admin].

 The only issue I see is that changelog headings
 [source:sites/trunk/wordpress.org/public_html/wp-content/plugins/plugin-
 directory/cli/i18n/class-readme-import.php?rev=5485&marks=90#L87 are not
 pulled into GlotPress for translation], so they should be in a universal
 format like `YYYY-MM-DD` instead of English text.

 If some custom code depends on those headings being numbers only, seems
 like that code should be updated to avoid potential breakage.

 > The format of the headers is intended to be the same as the versions.

 It should be mentioned in [https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins
 /wordpress-org/plugin-developer-faq/ Plugin Developer FAQ] and
 [https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/how-your-readme-
 txt-works/ How Your Readme.txt Works] then.

 > The format of the readme.txt files is not arbitrary. It's not a choose-
 your-own-adventure. We expect it in a specific format so that it is
 machine-readable. Code exists to parse it in machine-readable ways.

 I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the clarification. At a glance, the
 `Changelog` section does appear to be a freeform markdown text, same as
 most of the other sections.

 > Pick another format, one where the date is not in the version header
 field.

 No problem, we could add the date after the version headings, like Akismet
 does: [attachment:3069.akismet.PNG].
 {{{
 == Changelog ==

 = 1.0 =
 *Release Date - 10 May 2017*

 * A change since the previous version.
 * Another change.

 = 0.5 =
 *Release Date - 02 May 2017*

 * List versions from most recent at top to oldest at bottom.
 }}}

--
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3069#comment:8>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org