[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #10787: Send emails to notify Administrators that an update is avaialble for core|plugins|themes

[WordPress Trac]

#10787: Send emails to notify Administrators that an update is avaialble for
core|plugins|themes
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 Reporter:  dd32             |        Owner:  dd32    
     Type:  feature request  |       Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal           |    Milestone:  3.1     
Component:  Upgrade/Install  |      Version:  2.9     
 Severity:  normal           |   Resolution:          
 Keywords:                   |  
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Comment(by dd32):

 > There are many reasons for not implementing this without an option to
 turn off at the very least.

 I don't think anyone is wanting to force this on users, Much like comment
 notification emails at present, you can turn them off if you wish.

 > - Admins who set up sites for authors and then leave will not welcome
 lots of emails from all the sites they have enabled

 Then they shouldn't be leaving their email in the blogs they setup, Set it
 up with your own email, then set it to the clients.

 > - This already exists in a plugin which has been downloaded less than
 4,000 times - not that popular then

 Unfortunately not everyone will install a plugin for something they don't
 see as absolutely essential, I'd be willing to wager a bet that the
 majority of users who were given the extra functionality, would actually
 use it.

 > - It seems the proposed method above will email me daily until I update

 I'll personally make sure that's not done. Anything that spams or nags
 will get the boot, Anything more than a single email notifying ONCE about
 an update is not in the interests of users.

 > #14444

 I count less than half a dozen contributors, all on similar lines of
 attack (I dont want emails, Let me turn it off!, No longer control sites,
 don't want to be spammed, Don't want to be told sites that are working
 have updates available, don't want more work! etc). I can see where ALL of
 those points of view come into hand, But they're all very specific users
 of WordPress, Put it to the WordPress Support Forums or wp-hackers and
 you'll get a very different subset of users.

 However, To rebut it, Here's my list of people who would appreciate it:
  * Users who upgrade when they're aware an update is available - Not
 everyone logs in every day of the week, some do not get a chance to login
 weekly.. It all varies
  * Users who do not use an Administrative login for every day tasks - Face
 it, Everyone *should* do this, but not many do.
  * Users who use non-backend methods of posting, This is not just Front-
 end posting, but those who use 3rd party applications such as XML-RPC
 clients or the ipad client, etc.
  * Users who manage their jobs from their email - They can file the email
 as a job to get to when they've got the time
  * Users who do not search for a plugin to achieve every small bit of
 functionality which makes their life easier - Think of a function in
 WordPress you use and find a golden tool, that 99% of people out there
 don't even know exists.. There's plenty of us with those, Update emails
 are one of them, Not many people have downloaded the existing plugin, how
 many people have attempted looking for it?
  * Those who control multiple WordPress Installations where they dont
 login often - This has said to be a reason why people -wouldn't- want to
 recieve notifications, But i feel it fits in both categories. Some systems
 administrators/web developers/content providers/whatever like to keep on
 top of their security status. In the event that a security release is made
 to a plugin they're using, or a security release of WordPress is made, you
 can be sure that anyone with any competence WILL want to update it.
 Leaving it open to attack is the sign of sheer stupidity. I can understand
 the "If it's not broke, don't fix it" and I come across this enough, But
 many live to regret it with security related patches.

 It's late, so i'm not going to list anymore. I would be highly surprised
 if it turned out that less than 50% of end users didn't use it. That's a
 huge percentage, but it's got a much larger target audience than say, The
 file editors, Links, Post by Mail, the Atom Feed, or even perhaps, Press
 This.

 it might even be worthwhile having the ability to opt-out of the emails,
 In the sense that the email that is sent, has a link at the bottom with a
 long-term nonce & hashkey which disables the notifications to that email
 address.. simply for the cases where users no longer have access to the
 sites in question (and someone else has upgraded it)

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/10787#comment:17>
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