[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #32396: Settings Reduction for 4.3

[WordPress Trac]

#32396: Settings Reduction for 4.3
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 Reporter:  chriscct7       |      Owner:
     Type:  enhancement     |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal          |  Milestone:  4.3
Component:  Administration  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal          |   Keywords:  needs-patch
  Focuses:                  |
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 One of WordPress's many core philosphies is decisions instead of options
 based on the majority. In recent years, WordPress has worked on
 simplifying the administration and new-to-WordPress experience. As a
 result of these talks, and my ongoing work on the ancient ticket report,
 we're proposing the removal of some of the lesser used options in
 WordPress core.

 This ticket is strongly related to (#(ticket # coming soon, posting that
 one right after this one)), where we're removing email to post for all
 installs from WordPress core, as it is inherently broken.

 As part of the work into this ticket, several hosting providers have
 provided usage data for core options, specifically the % of installs where
 the value of the core setting is not on the default.

 Here is an overview of the proposed movement of options:

 Settings Removed:
 - mailserver_url (post to email leaving core)
 - mailserver_login (post to email leaving core)
 - mailserver_pass (post to email leaving core)
 - mailserver_port (post to email leaving core)
 - default_email_category (post to email leaving core)
 - default_category (moving to the post category page in #31483)
 - pressthis (already on tools page)

 Possibly removed based on usage under 1% (from WordPress.com data,
 normalized) :
 - avatar_default
 - show_avatars
 - avatar_rating
 - default_post_format
 - ping_sites
 - posts_per_rss

 Settings Under Consideration for Removal pending media numbers from
 GoDaddy + Page.ly:
 - thumbnail_size_w
 - thumbnail_size_h
 - thumbnail_crop
 - medium_size_w
 - medium_size_h
 - large_size_w
 - large_size_h
 - image_default_size
 - image_default_align
 - uploads_use_yearmonth_folders
 - rss_use_excerpt

 Settings Moved to General:
 - posts_per_page
 - page_on_front
 - page_for_posts
 - blog_public

 The two options we have for each setting is to:
 - Remove the setting (hide it) just for new installs (continue showing for
 existing installs)
 - Remove the setting for all installs

 For each setting, existing hooks can be utilized (as well as just a simple
 update_option call) to continue using the setting after it's been removed
 or hidden.

 As it stands right now, the following option pages would not show for new
 installs (or if we decide to remove the settings existing ones as well):
 - Writing
 - Reading
 - Media (pending data)

 All settings pages would be mapped as was done previously for the privacy
 page in 3.5.
 Thus any plugin currently hooking into any of the removed tabs would not
 be affected.

 From a UX standpoint, the second most commonly used WordPress setting
 (behind site URL) is the posts_on_front/page_for_posts selector, currently
 on the reading page. Under this proposal, the option would be relocated to
 new installs (or existing if removal of tab for existing installs) to
 right underneath the site url field on the general tab which makes sense
 as one of the more used WordPress settings should be on the default
 settings page.

 The goal is to finish getting usage data for the remaining settings this
 week, and to have a patch ready within the next 2 weeks. Decisions on
 whether to remove settings on existing installs will need to be made on an
 option by option basis and should be done as soon as possible to expedite
 the patch process.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32396>
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