WP Suggestions – Keep it clean

  • I’ve looked at many, and worked closely with a couple weblog softwares, including NucleusCMS and Drupal. WordPress interests me due to several reasons:

    • active development
    • stated interest in strict web standards
    • extensibility

    This said, I would like to make the following suggestions:

    • Maintain focus on strict web standards. Don’t let users steer this course. There is huge interest in web standards compliant software, and it is growing. Let other weblogs handle the sloppy stuff.
    • Create a system of sorts that will “WordPress approve” plugins. It is easy to write plugins, and easier to write plugins that have no documentation, are buggy, don’t do as expected, etc. WordPress will help users by creating some method that plugin creators can use to receive a “stamp of approval” from someone/some group within WP. Force authors to create documentation for installation, configuration, and operation. Then, these approved plugins shoudl be made available on the WP site in an “approved area.” This will not discourage good plugins from being written.
    • Fix old bugs before addign new features. Users get discouraged if things aren’t addressed in a timely manner.
    • Keep It Simple. Don’t “feature bloat” WordPress. There is enough software around that try to be everything for everyone, and end up failing at the core.

    Thanks for a great tool!
    <rb>

Viewing 7 replies - 16 through 22 (of 22 total)

  • When you have something to actually offer besides snarky comments and superior attitude (but very little of substance), do let the rest of us mere mortals know.

    Took the words right out of my mouth. You have made three posts in this thread and none of them have been useful, constructive, or even on-topic. If you wish to make childish personal attacks, please make another thread for them or post them on your own site. Nobody here cares.
    To all those saying we need a bug tracker; Matt has already made it clear that’s not going to happen because the devs are too busy as it is. This demand reminds me of all the pointless threads about wanting to change the forum software. If you want something done it is up to you to do it yourself.

    Thread Starter randybrown

    (@randybrown)

    Good product by good people — but I get the impression that the internal code of the tool is hands off except for the vetted developers.

    “Too many cooks…”
    Limiting the development team is one of the best ways to ensure there is consistency in the underlying coding standards of a project. Having consistency is one of the ways to limit bugs and feature creep.
    Back to the issue of “plugin approval” – here is where additional development, outside development by those who want to add value and features to WP which are not present in the core code, comes in.
    From my perspective, I’d rather have a solid, standards compliant core set of weblog tools available, along with the extensibility of a plugin system. I’d rather modifications to the core weblog tools come in the form of well designed plugins, rather than “hacks” to the core.
    The former will produce a much more reliable system than the latter. Plus, I can install plugins to give me the features I want, and leave out the plugins that contain features I don’t need.
    Good discussion.

    Well, then, I guess the developers are just going to have to fix the bugs and do the documentation. After all — we’uns wouldn’t want to track dirt all through their nice clean code and documentation.

    To the thread at large:
    You become a developer like you do on any other project. Contribute bug fixes, rework patches when asked, demonstrate that you can work with the maintainer, and show some commitment. Eventually, you will be trusted with CVS access. Good code will not be turned away. You become a developer by doing.
    The bug tracker issue is something that gets debated to death on every project. I’ve been there a dozen times. Just read the Linux kernel mailing lists for some lively discussion on the topic. The simple fact is that unless someone actively manages it, it quickly becomes a worthless mess that developers won’t bother with. Debating proper software process isn’t going to motivate developers to sink their time into marking bugs as duplicates of each other all day. The community needs to step up. It does take people doing the unfun tasks to make a project successful. Anyone can feel free to start doing them instead of asking others to do them. I do lot’s of unfun stuff when I fix bugs on features that I personally never use or when I mark strings for translation for hours on end. Someone else can help with the unfun stuff that I don’t want to do. So, we can talk about bug trackers all day, but that won’t get us anywhere. Someone has to care enough to not just ask, but to do. Who wants the pain of managing it? It would have to be someone who doesn’t know what they’re in for. ??

    Randy, I think you have nothing to worry about with the future of WordPress.
    2fargon, approved plugins will be those that work elegantly, adhere to the coding guidelines, and follow web standards. This will be fleshed out more when the plugins section on www.ads-software.com is done.
    Sushubh, I do test in Opera every now and then. Besides the advanced edit screen problem, which is an Opera bug (or difference in interpretation) everything seems groovy.
    WillM, we are committed to fixing bugs as well as providing excellent documentation.
    rboren, totally agreed.
    Beel, there’s no reason a plugin can’t link to the wiki or other external documentation. In fact it’s recommended.
    Shelleyp, in the past we have provided bug fix releases even though development had moved on to the next major version, and we will continue to do so in the future. It ‘s not too hard on developers.
    David, the reasons a bug tracker is not being set up currently have been covered elsewhere.
    Anatman, the problem with complicated instructions is that what is line 115 in a vanilla install might turn into line 177 after you install mod #1, and then the instructions for mod #2 doesn’t make sense. We’re trying to avoid this.
    Shelley, no part of the code is “hands off,” patches and improvements are welcome for all parts of the code. This, like many open-source products, is a meritocracy. CVS access is granted on account of consistent high-quality submissions of code and bug fixes. You can always contact me directly with patches and/or suggestions.
    Randy, our goal isn’t to limit the number of people contributing, quite the opposite. Patches and such are sent in daily, and if accepted I commit them with a message crediting whoever sent them in.
    Shelley, I hope your concerns are addressed by now. Anyone who wants to contribute to the development is free to send in patches. Anyone who wants to become involved with the documentation project is free to join the documentation mailing list. And of course the wiki is open to everyone.
    Excellent discussion all around.

    BTW, Ryan (rboren) became a “developer” through exactly the process he described.

    but allusion, opera was not even in the list of softwares u install on ur blog. :O)
    and dont tell me u never used a IE hack for any of wp related webpages ??

Viewing 7 replies - 16 through 22 (of 22 total)
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