[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:  (none)
     Type:  task (blessed)                       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  5.0
Component:  Plugins                              |     Version:
 Severity:  major                                |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-unit-tests servehappy dev-     |     Focuses:
  feedback has-patch                             |
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Comment (by afragen):

 Replying to [comment:59 joyously]:
 > Your constant patches make it difficult to see the discussion. My
 comment got lost in the flurry, but I think it deserves an answer.
 >
 > == Why are we disabling the Install button at all? Why are we not
 focusing on activation?

 We disable the Install button because we want the user to understand that
 they cannot install the plugin. It would be a poor user experience to
 think they can install a plugin and instead get an error of the
 installation process. I wrote a POC plugin that did it this way. It looks
 awful. Ultimately it was the consensus opinion of #core-php and the
 primary scope of the trac ticket to disable the install button.

 > > It is my hope that decisions on the user interface keep in mind what
 the user is doing when this `Install plugin` button is disabled. This
 really only affects those sites with a lower version of PHP than the
 plugin has. But there could be plugins that are on the bleeding edge oh
 PHP that the user is not interested in.
 > >
 > > 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.)

 There are infinite combinations of plugins and it is the responsibility of
 the site owner, or the person responsible for site maintenance, to ensure
 that the site doesn’t whitescreen because of some poorly coded plugin and
 an update. All that we can do is try to protect the use as much as we can.
 There is currently no method to determine where a plugin is compatible
 with a higher version of PHP. It’s up to the plugin developer to maintain
 their code, or you can fork it, fix it, and submit a PR; and it’s our
 responsibility to test our sites.

 It is highly unlikely that a WordPress update will cause an issue with a
 plugin. We all know that WordPress seeks backwards compatibility,
 sometimes to the detriment of more advanced coding practices.

 More information regarding a plugin’s requirements is still and always has
 been in the “More Details” window.

 > > **Perhaps instead of disabling the install button, we should be
 disabling activation only.**

 This was addressed above.

 Others may have different explanations. I could be wrong. I am not the
 authority nor do I claim to be. I do hope some of my explanation makes
 sense and I hope even more that it is accurate. I’m trying.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43986#comment:60>
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