[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #43986: Disable "Install Plugin" button for PHP required version mismatch

[WordPress Trac]

#43986: Disable "Install Plugin" button for PHP required version mismatch
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 Reporter:  schlessera                           |       Owner:  afragen
     Type:  task (blessed)                       |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  5.0
Component:  Plugins                              |     Version:
 Severity:  major                                |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-unit-tests servehappy has-     |     Focuses:
  patch ux-feedback                              |
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Comment (by SergeyBiryukov):

 Replying to [comment:56 joyously]:
 > The first step in upgrading PHP (beyond understanding the concepts) is
 to determine if the plugins and theme will work on the new version. For
 this, the user needs to see the numbers because he's looking ''before''
 the upgrade. The user has to choose plugins that will work with a
 different version than his current version. Then he has to upgrade, and
 then he has to switch to those plugins he found. (Or install the plugins,
 but not activate yet.)
 >
 > **Perhaps instead of disabling the install button, we should be
 disabling activation only.**

 It looks like your point is about finding a replacement for plugins that
 may not be compatible with a newer PHP version.

 I understand the use case, however there's currently no guaranteed way of
 knowing whether a plugin is compatible with a newer PHP version. Per
 previous dicussions, the `Requires PHP` header only denotes the minimum
 required version, not the maximum supported version.

 IIRC, the points that contributed to the decision were:
 * While some outdated plugins can break on newer PHP versions, breakage
 after installing a newer plugin in an older environment is more common.
 Plugin authors should be able to use modern PHP without breaking sites.
 * If we did have a field for the maximum supported version, it could
 quickly become outdated, and there would be no way of knowing if that's
 intentional, or the developer simply forgot to update it. We wouldn't want
 to give the user inaccurate information, and asking every plugin developer
 to follow PHP release history and update their plugins accordingly might
 be a bit too much.

 This ticket is focused on another use case instead: searching for plugins
 compatible with the current PHP version, while giving an incentive to
 eventually update PHP.

 As for older plugins that may not be compatible with a newer PHP version,
 the "safe mode" approach suggested in #44458 should help with identifying
 them and finding a replacement.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43986#comment:85>
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