[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #52012: Bundle jQuery plugin temporarily to encourage adoption of auto-updates

[WordPress Trac]

#52012: Bundle jQuery plugin temporarily to encourage adoption of auto-updates
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 Reporter:  carike           |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  feature request  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Upgrade/Install  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal           |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  javascript       |
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 **The Problem:
 **
 There were a large number of questions on the Forums during 5.5. and 5.6.
 where sites experienced fatal errors or other unexpected behaviour because
 they use plugins that have not yet updated to the appropriate jQuery
 libraries.

 When sites break, non-technical users tend to want to roll back.
 This breaks trust in auto-updates and is highly likely to lead to users
 staying on older Core versions for longer and not trying to update again
 for years.

 **The Proposed Solution:**

 Bundle the jQuery Helper into Core (like Hello Dolly).

 Strongly consider running a chron job to disable (and possibly delete) the
 plugin after a certain number of admin logins (say 20).
 Have a prominent message (possibly redirect to a "landing page") to show
 the admin user how many logins they have left before the plugin is
 automatically disabled / deleted.
 Consider allowing the admin to extend the number of admin logins (perhaps
 to 200), or to enable the plugin until disabled (for sites that use
 plugins reliant on the outdated jQuery libraries).

 If possible, consider making use of Site Health to give an indication to
 the admin user as to whether or not the plugin is needed on their current
 setup or not.

 The goal here is not to let people use insecure libraries indefinitely -
 the goal is to get them **off** those libraries as soon as possible by
 facilitating communication and by not leaving them with a broken site
 (potentially during the middle of the night without them even being aware
 that the auto-update is happening) and scaring them off updating at all.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52012>
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