[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #57310: Possibility to dismiss plugin update notification until next version or forever

[WordPress Trac]

#57310: Possibility to dismiss plugin update notification until next version or
forever
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 Reporter:  abitofmind       |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Upgrade/Install  |     Version:  6.1.1
 Severity:  normal           |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  2nd-opinion      |     Focuses:
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Comment (by abitofmind):

 @costdev

 1) **I agree that the comfort** of my proposed solution poses the danger
 of facilitating (partially) outdated installations for too long or even
 forever, not as a conscious decision, but due to laziness/carelessness.

 2) **Revised proposal**: Offer this modified behavior via a plugin, e.g.
 named "Advanced Update Notifications".
 - By not shipping this with core ("out of the box") a certain barrier of
 entry is there. The plugin page will list an explicit warning and list
 some of the few good reasons where this may be a good idea. Then the site
 owner gained that responsibility with a higher burden, and so it is more
 justified.
 - Would you give that a try?
 - The advantages of this solution in comparison to "mu-plugins" is that
 all plugin mechanisms continue to work. Just the update notification
 behavior is changed.

 3) **My personal use case:** I want to stay on "Better Admin Bar" v3.4 as
 I don't like how the new owner continued from v4 onwards and my
 [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/ux-of-showing-hiding-better-admin-
 bar-was-better-and-more-customizable-in-v3/ feedback remained unanswered].
 So I tried the `wp-content/mu-plugins` approach and it failed.

 📄 https://wordpress.org/support/article/must-use-plugins/
 - 👍 Overall well written.
 - ❌ But doesn't address how to proceed if you want to transform an
 actively used plugin into a must-use plugin.
 - 👉 Updating that aspect into the support article would be appreciated!
 - 😉 I found out how to do it by trial and error.

 === Attempt 1: Just moved my activated plugin `better-admin-bar` from
 `/wp-content/plugins/` to `/wp-content/mu-plugins/`
 - Outcome: Plugin was disabled effectively.
 - Going to Dashboard > Plugins gives a warning that plugin files were not
 found anymore.
   - On next visitation that hint is gone. Good design: "We told you once"
 (but don't annoy you henceforth).

 === Attempt 2: Did it more carefully in multiple steps
 - Copied (not moved!) plugin `better-admin-bar` from `/wp-
 content/plugins/` to `/wp-content/plugins-off/`
 - Dashboard > Plugins > Better Admin Bar: First "Deactivate". Then
 "Uninstall".
   - Plugin now gone from list.
   - Note: Some plugins have an option "When uninstalling remove plugin
 settings from database".
     - This one not. Indeed its settings remained in the database.
 - Moved plugin `better-admin-bar` from `/wp-content/plugins-off/` to `/wp-
 content/plugins-mu/`.
 - Reloaded pages in frontend and backend multiple times.
   - Plugin was not effective in the frontend (aka rendering, aka output).
   - Dashboard > Settings: No "Better Admin Bar" entry there (which was
 there when installed normally).

 So this seems to be one of the plugins which are not compatible with the
 mu-plugin method. Or I did something wrong.

 === Nevertheless I restored the plugin
 - Moved if back from `/wp-content/mu-plugins/` to `/wp-content/plugins/`.
 - Dashboard > Plugins: Plugins moved to the plugins folder with pre-
 existing settings in the database (= "ready to go") are nevertheless
 automatically disabled when detected. This is a good security/safety
 precaution. I enabled it again.
 - It worked again, and my customized plugin settings were still working
 (as they were never removed from the database).

 So I guess I have to live with that notification badge over the "Plugins"
 menu entry until an "Advanced Update Notifications" plugin may get
 published one day.
 - I'd propose something like "Advanced" in the name instead of "Disable"
 or "Postpone" to not encourage/attract the forementioned negative use.
 - What do you say?

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/57310#comment:3>
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