[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #29173: Register (empty) core Customizer Panels for plugins to add their sections to

[WordPress Trac]

#29173: Register (empty) core Customizer Panels for plugins to add their sections
to
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 Reporter:  celloexpressions  |      Owner:
     Type:  enhancement       |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Customize         |    Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal            |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  administration    |
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 One of the concerns with encouraging plugins to use the Customizer rather
 than separate options pages (which we're doing in 4.0 with the shift from
 "Theme Customizer" to "Customizer" and changing "You are customizing /
 [theme name]" to "You are customizing / [site title]") is that too many
 plugins adding their own sections to the top-level of the Customizer will
 cause clutter.

 While panels can help alleviate this issue, most plugins (and themes)
 really have no business creating their own panel. If we register one or
 more "standard" core panels that plugins can add sections to, more plugins
 can utilize the customizer without introducing excessive clutter (as long
 as they respect decisions, not options to a certain degree). This is
 similar to how themes frequently add their own controls to the core
 `colors` and `title_tagline` sections, although those can also have core
 controls. Section-less panels (and control-less sections) are not
 displayed anyway, so they would only show up if a plugin added sections to
 them.

 The best I can come up with would be registering a fairly generic
 "settings" panel, which could also eventually house some less obviously
 front-end-related (ie, not title/tagline) settings from the core Settings
 admin menu subpages. Plugins are used to adding things there, and users
 are used to going there for plugin settings, so that may make the most
 sense in the Customizer as well. Top-level sections could eventually move
 into an appearance-type panel (if we get to the point that there are
 enough well-organized panels to go there), so it would be best of less-
 visual plugin options didn't go into the top level (but still used the
 Customizer).

 If we can come to a consensus on what the panels should be, this could
 maybe be in 4.0, otherwise will need to wait.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/29173>
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