Discussion:
About page for a plugin?
TV productions
2014-04-25 12:50:11 UTC
Permalink
Hi list,

I am a plugin developer and I use an about page for my plugin to show
users the latest changes. It is an about page like the WordPress about
page (wp-admin/about.php).
I redirect users after installation, activation and update to this about
page.

Then a more technical part of it: imagine that you update some plugin
from which at least two plugins use an about page (and use the same
technique to redirect to that page), the user will see probably only the
about page of first plugin.

I am wondering if it is right to have an about page like this. I mean,
should only WordPress have an about page and plugins not? Are there any
alternatives? What about the redirect after (bulk) plugin update?

I would like to hear your opinion on this and/or the way you inform
users about the changes in a new release.

Best regards,

Ties
--
TV productions :: Web development and stuff
http://tv-productions.org
Nicholas Ciske
2014-04-25 13:03:10 UTC
Permalink
You should not do this as it assumes your plugin is the only one running or being upgraded, but of course it's not. In fact, hijacking the admin is explicitly prohibited in plugin guidelines #11:

"Plugins should not hijack the blog admin. It is fine to include an Upgrade prompt on the plugin admin page, but not throughout the blog. It is acceptable to embed a widget on the dashboard but this should be the same size as others and be dismissable. It's fine to put an error message at the top of the admin for special cases, but it should be linked to a way to fix the error and it should be infrequent. Any form of "nagging" is absolutely prohibited."
http://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/

If you really want to notify users of changes after an upgrade, use an admin notice to link to your about page (as these can stack up for multiple plugins).

But consider that this may just be annoying (see nagging provision above) and not very beneficial to anyone in the end. If they care, they know where to find your plugin -- unless there are breaking changes, user required actions, or something *really* important -- what's so special about your plugin that it needs this, when thousands of plugins get by without it?

Also, make sure the user can cancel that notice (e.g. make it dismissible) if they don't care to read your page.
http://www.webdev-tuts.com/how-to-create-closeable-admin-notice-in-wordpress-dashboard.html

_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Post by TV productions
Hi list,
I am a plugin developer and I use an about page for my plugin to show users the latest changes. It is an about page like the WordPress about page (wp-admin/about.php).
I redirect users after installation, activation and update to this about page.
Then a more technical part of it: imagine that you update some plugin from which at least two plugins use an about page (and use the same technique to redirect to that page), the user will see probably only the about page of first plugin.
I am wondering if it is right to have an about page like this. I mean, should only WordPress have an about page and plugins not? Are there any alternatives? What about the redirect after (bulk) plugin update?
I would like to hear your opinion on this and/or the way you inform users about the changes in a new release.
Best regards,
Ties
--
TV productions :: Web development and stuff
http://tv-productions.org
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
J.D. Grimes
2014-04-25 13:12:14 UTC
Permalink
Both bbPress and BuddyPress do this, as does WooCommerce (and probably many others). I think it can be beneficial, though it can also be annoying (as Nick pointed out). If none of the developers of those plugins come along and answer your question, you could check their source code to see if they are getting around this problem with multiple updates somehow.

-J.D.
Post by Nicholas Ciske
"Plugins should not hijack the blog admin. It is fine to include an Upgrade prompt on the plugin admin page, but not throughout the blog. It is acceptable to embed a widget on the dashboard but this should be the same size as others and be dismissable. It's fine to put an error message at the top of the admin for special cases, but it should be linked to a way to fix the error and it should be infrequent. Any form of "nagging" is absolutely prohibited."
http://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/
If you really want to notify users of changes after an upgrade, use an admin notice to link to your about page (as these can stack up for multiple plugins).
But consider that this may just be annoying (see nagging provision above) and not very beneficial to anyone in the end. If they care, they know where to find your plugin -- unless there are breaking changes, user required actions, or something *really* important -- what's so special about your plugin that it needs this, when thousands of plugins get by without it?
Also, make sure the user can cancel that notice (e.g. make it dismissible) if they don't care to read your page.
http://www.webdev-tuts.com/how-to-create-closeable-admin-notice-in-wordpress-dashboard.html
_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Post by TV productions
Hi list,
I am a plugin developer and I use an about page for my plugin to show users the latest changes. It is an about page like the WordPress about page (wp-admin/about.php).
I redirect users after installation, activation and update to this about page.
Then a more technical part of it: imagine that you update some plugin from which at least two plugins use an about page (and use the same technique to redirect to that page), the user will see probably only the about page of first plugin.
I am wondering if it is right to have an about page like this. I mean, should only WordPress have an about page and plugins not? Are there any alternatives? What about the redirect after (bulk) plugin update?
I would like to hear your opinion on this and/or the way you inform users about the changes in a new release.
Best regards,
Ties
--
TV productions :: Web development and stuff
http://tv-productions.org
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
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Paul Menard
2014-04-25 13:34:58 UTC
Permalink
Seems the obvious answer here is to detected is multiple plugins
activations are occurring via the bulk action. With BuddyPress for example
as J.D. pointed out it does redirect. But that is only if it is singularly
activated by clicking the activate link on the plugin row. If you activate
BuddyPress via the bulk actions submit it does not redirect.

My thoughts.

P-
Post by J.D. Grimes
Both bbPress and BuddyPress do this, as does WooCommerce (and probably
many others). I think it can be beneficial, though it can also be annoying
(as Nick pointed out). If none of the developers of those plugins come
along and answer your question, you could check their source code to see if
they are getting around this problem with multiple updates somehow.
-J.D.
Post by Nicholas Ciske
You should not do this as it assumes your plugin is the only one running
or being upgraded, but of course it's not. In fact, hijacking the admin is
Post by Nicholas Ciske
"Plugins should not hijack the blog admin. It is fine to include an
Upgrade prompt on the plugin admin page, but not throughout the blog. It is
acceptable to embed a widget on the dashboard but this should be the same
size as others and be dismissable. It's fine to put an error message at the
top of the admin for special cases, but it should be linked to a way to fix
the error and it should be infrequent. Any form of "nagging" is absolutely
prohibited."
Post by Nicholas Ciske
http://wordpress.org/plugins/about/guidelines/
If you really want to notify users of changes after an upgrade, use an
admin notice to link to your about page (as these can stack up for multiple
plugins).
Post by Nicholas Ciske
But consider that this may just be annoying (see nagging provision
above) and not very beneficial to anyone in the end. If they care, they
know where to find your plugin -- unless there are breaking changes, user
required actions, or something *really* important -- what's so special
about your plugin that it needs this, when thousands of plugins get by
without it?
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Also, make sure the user can cancel that notice (e.g. make it
dismissible) if they don't care to read your page.
http://www.webdev-tuts.com/how-to-create-closeable-admin-notice-in-wordpress-dashboard.html
Post by Nicholas Ciske
_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Post by TV productions
Hi list,
I am a plugin developer and I use an about page for my plugin to show
users the latest changes. It is an about page like the WordPress about page
(wp-admin/about.php).
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Post by TV productions
I redirect users after installation, activation and update to this
about page.
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Post by TV productions
Then a more technical part of it: imagine that you update some plugin
from which at least two plugins use an about page (and use the same
technique to redirect to that page), the user will see probably only the
about page of first plugin.
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Post by TV productions
I am wondering if it is right to have an about page like this. I mean,
should only WordPress have an about page and plugins not? Are there any
alternatives? What about the redirect after (bulk) plugin update?
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Post by TV productions
I would like to hear your opinion on this and/or the way you inform
users about the changes in a new release.
Post by Nicholas Ciske
Post by TV productions
Best regards,
Ties
--
TV productions :: Web development and stuff
http://tv-productions.org
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
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Nicholas Ciske
2014-04-25 14:06:30 UTC
Permalink
On activation or upgrade? Those are entirely different scenarios -- e.g. one time vs. all the time. Sounds like BuddyPress only does so on direct *activation* (not bulk) which is not intrusive as I'm in the flow if activating that specific plugin for the first time.

Those are also all very large plugins that require significant initial setup -- so I can see the use case there. Few plugins need that kind of interaction on *every upgrade* (except maybe in the case of a major version bump with breaking changes, but a dismissible notice is still the better pattern there, if you must do anything).

The only place I could even see a potential argument for would be a direct upgrade (just that plugin) but even that is a bit overkill (and misses a lot of upgrade cases - ftp upgrades, bulk upgrades, external upgrade managers like ManageWP, etc.

If I want to see the changes, that's what the changelog option on the upgrade screen (and repo) is for.

A tab or submenu could give access to that post upgrade (e.g. the same about page he has now).

A notice is a bit more intrusive, but dismissible and can handle all cases (on next admin visit).

A redirect on upgrade is very intrusive, and misses a good deal of cases.

_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Post by J.D. Grimes
Both bbPress and BuddyPress do this, as does WooCommerce (and probably many others).
TV productions
2014-04-25 18:15:37 UTC
Permalink
Thank you all for your opinion! I think I move to a notice, as you
suggested. This is also easier than redirecting all those cases.

Best regards

Ties

---
TV productions :: Web development and stuff
http://tv-productions.org
Post by Nicholas Ciske
On activation or upgrade? Those are entirely different scenarios --
e.g. one time vs. all the time. Sounds like BuddyPress only does so on
direct *activation* (not bulk) which is not intrusive as I'm in the
flow if activating that specific plugin for the first time.
Those are also all very large plugins that require significant initial
setup -- so I can see the use case there. Few plugins need that kind
of interaction on *every upgrade* (except maybe in the case of a major
version bump with breaking changes, but a dismissible notice is still
the better pattern there, if you must do anything).
The only place I could even see a potential argument for would be a
direct upgrade (just that plugin) but even that is a bit overkill (and
misses a lot of upgrade cases - ftp upgrades, bulk upgrades, external
upgrade managers like ManageWP, etc.
If I want to see the changes, that's what the changelog option on the
upgrade screen (and repo) is for.
A tab or submenu could give access to that post upgrade (e.g. the same
about page he has now).
A notice is a bit more intrusive, but dismissible and can handle all
cases (on next admin visit).
A redirect on upgrade is very intrusive, and misses a good deal of cases.
_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Both bbPress and BuddyPress do this, as does WooCommerce (and probably many others).
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
Stephen Edgar
2014-04-26 02:35:29 UTC
Permalink
Both bbPress and BuddyPress indeed have an 'about' page, and are activated after activation and update though there are no checks to see if 'another' plugin is about to do the same.

@tw2113 gave this a try last month https://twitter.com/tw2113/status/444602541482196992


Cheers,
 
Stephen Edgar
Melbourne, Australia

Core commiter, contributor & moderator of #bbPress http://bbpress.org
https://profiles.wordpress.org/netweb/ https://twiter.com/netweb



-----Original Message-----
From: wp-hackers [mailto:wp-hackers-***@lists.automattic.com] On Behalf Of TV productions
Sent: Saturday, 26 April 2014 4:16 AM
To: wp-***@lists.automattic.com
Subject: Re: [wp-hackers] About page for a plugin?

Thank you all for your opinion! I think I move to a notice, as you suggested. This is also easier than redirecting all those cases.

Best regards

Ties

---
TV productions :: Web development and stuff http://tv-productions.org
Post by Nicholas Ciske
On activation or upgrade? Those are entirely different scenarios --
e.g. one time vs. all the time. Sounds like BuddyPress only does so on
direct *activation* (not bulk) which is not intrusive as I'm in the
flow if activating that specific plugin for the first time.
Those are also all very large plugins that require significant initial
setup -- so I can see the use case there. Few plugins need that kind
of interaction on *every upgrade* (except maybe in the case of a major
version bump with breaking changes, but a dismissible notice is still
the better pattern there, if you must do anything).
The only place I could even see a potential argument for would be a
direct upgrade (just that plugin) but even that is a bit overkill (and
misses a lot of upgrade cases - ftp upgrades, bulk upgrades, external
upgrade managers like ManageWP, etc.
If I want to see the changes, that's what the changelog option on the
upgrade screen (and repo) is for.
A tab or submenu could give access to that post upgrade (e.g. the same
about page he has now).
A notice is a bit more intrusive, but dismissible and can handle all
cases (on next admin visit).
A redirect on upgrade is very intrusive, and misses a good deal of cases.
_________________________
Nick Ciske
http://thoughtrefinery.com/
@nciske
Both bbPress and BuddyPress do this, as does WooCommerce (and probably many others).
_______________________________________________
wp-hackers mailing list
http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
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