- Posted by Justin
- Posted in wordpress
Short, sweet, quick and easy, basic concepts that ring in my head when I imagine Wordpress plug-in development. Plug-ins are supposed to be exactly what they represent, plug-in. A simple modification, extension or enhancement of the wordpress blogging engine that is capable of being inserted within the system seamlessly.
I’ve noticed, recently, plug-ins are not as simple as I, personally would like to see. Plug-ins seem to have crazy amounts of options and configuration settings. Multiple tags and some are even extremely difficult to integrate. Even for those of us who are savvy with application development, specifically: PHP, MySQL, Ruby, XHTML and CSS; it can be a pain.
Curious where this rant is coming from? Its deep within my soul. Keeping things simple is key! I have been preparing multiple plugins to release with my new design that is now taking on a few more changes. The plug-ins are going to be functional, friendly and hopefully, popular. I’ve been watching over the months and noticed that it seems plug-ins are no longer getting things done.
Adding more styles, options and in-depth advanced features to wordpress is great. There are still so many hidden, unlocked and secret enhancements that we could be working on. I was beginning a remodel of a specific plug-in I am working on when I realized I was giving the user too many options.
I’m curious, you, as fellow users of Wordpress. Do you like options? How many options? I am creating a plug-in that potentially will have specific expressions that you, the user will configure and build. Upon writing your “rules and expressions” specific events will occur. Do you believe this is too technical and advanced for our Wordpress community? Should I split this potentially large plug-in into multiple plug-ins, leaving it to serve single purposes only?
Should I store the data in plain files and have the user edit them directly in a text editor? Do you feel that having another tab or options button on the interface for your wordpress administrative panel is good? Personally, I’m running out of room over here. What about moving data into plain text files again? Bad idea?
How would you like to see plug-ins function? Single file, specific purpose, no configuration, just works? Have some control? I am being a little vague because I don’t wish to prematurely deliver the goods before I am 100% finished. However, I believe that once the initial version is launched; building upon it will be great.
Give me some feedback, what would you like to see?
Nov 28
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11 Comments Ranting on Wordpress Plugin Development
Shawn Blanc
November 28th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
1I like Plugins that you turn on and they work. But many of the ones I use are interactive. Backup, sitemap, comment subscription, contact form…
I think simple and easy is best. I would divide them up into basic functions and if someone wants them all then they can install them all.
Looking forward to what seeing you’re writing.
Ranting on Wordpress Plugin Development by Blogging Pro
November 29th, 2006 at 11:28 am
2[…] Justin Shattuck, who is currently working on some plug-ins for WordPress, has released a rant on how many plug-ins are just too complex. I’ve noticed, recently, plugins are not as simple as I, personally would like to see. Plugins seem to have crazy amounts of options and configuration settings. Multiple tags and some are even extremely difficult to integrate. Even for those of us who are savvy with application development, specifically: PHP, MySQL, Ruby, XHTML and CSS; it can be a pain. […]
Whisper
November 30th, 2006 at 10:49 am
3Well I do agree that a plugin should be “set it and forget it”, but SOMETIMES the options are nice.
The Good — When I get a plugin I get it because I want the functionality it provides, but sometimes the method it delivers that functionality isn’t always how I would like it. I do like having a few trivial options to turn off some of the features of the plugin, and maybe to configure the way it is delivered. As far as the extremely technical bits I like good documentation (missing in LOTS of plugins) so I can tackle that stuff on my own if need be. I don’t get upset when this happens cause I understand that most just want to turn it on and trust the developer has things set up just perfectly.
The Bad — When the options are for setting things that are entirely to technical for one to understand they are a pain. Not just for the people, it’s also a pain for the developer because inevitably people are going to play with the settings and something is going to go wrong increasing the amount of support you have to provide.
So I guess honestly IMO you should go with your gut, and offer as many options as you think the plugin needs. Make sure you put it in really plain language so people understand what it’s offering, and have really good documentation.
Ranting on Wordpress Plugin Development
November 30th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
4[…] Justin Shattuck, who is currently working on some plug-ins for WordPress, has released a rant on how many plug-ins are just too complex. I’ve noticed, recently, plugins are not as simple as I, personally would like to see. Plugins seem to have crazy amounts of options and configuration settings. Multiple tags and some are even extremely difficult to integrate. Even for those of us who are savvy with application development, specifically: PHP, MySQL, Ruby, XHTML and CSS; it can be a pain. […]
Anne Helmond » Software constraints in blogging software
December 1st, 2006 at 4:38 am
5[…] The framework itself feels restrictive and I have been looking for tools to accomplish what I want. In the case of Wordpress I have been looking for Widgets and Plug ins that can achieve what I want. Or rather, the backend tools that shape and form my blog. Plugins and widgets are solutions to the restrictions in the Wordpress software, but are restrictions being reproduced on another level? What kind of constraints are built into the internet on the content level? How does software control meaning (content). These are several questions I am planning to ask myself in my MA thesis. I recently came across two related posts: Ranting on Wordpress Plugin Development by Justin Shattuck and Ranting on Wordpress Plugin Development by David at Blogger Pro Bookmark to: […]
Anne Helmond
December 1st, 2006 at 4:40 am
6I have been using widgets and plugins for a little while now and I love them.
I have been experiencing some problems with configuring some though. I am currently documenting my problems for my thesis which will deal with software constraints in Wordpress http://www.annehelmond.nl/tag/wordpress
I don’t mind a wide array of options as long as the documentation is good. I am semi tech-savvy and I strongly dislike documentation such as “adjust the php on the correct page”. Which page did you say? I think there is a strong correlation with the development of the themes. Some plugins seem to mess up the theme or the other way round, some themes don’t adjust well to plugins.
Isn’t it possible to come up with a solution that automatically adjust the plugin to your page’s CSS?
Anne Helmond
December 13th, 2006 at 7:13 am
7Dear Justin,
Thank you for your comments. My thesis should be ready and available for download somewhere during the summer of 2007 (if all goes well and according to planning of course ;) ) Right now I would consider plug ins an answer to the constraints Wordpress imposes on its users. Unfortunately only programmers have the ability to work around these constraints because they have the technical wizz to actually build a custom solution to the posed constraint/problem. I think it would be also useful and interesting too look at the community that is creating and writing these plug ins. Also the larger trend of widgets is worth looking at. The “Widgetize Anything” Wordpress plug in is a great example of this. Oi oi. It is time to get my scope narrowed down :)
Weasel
December 15th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
8I like plugins that just up and work, but during my development I’ve found that it is technically impossible to actually create certain plugins without editing some wordpress source first. The majority of the plugins you are referring to are probably just lazily coded, but I had to throw that out there.
That said, time to answer your question. I think a plugin should come with the most common and most popular settings pre-set… So that you can just turn it on and it’ll work for most folk. There should be a configuration screen that gives VERY WELL DOCUMENTED options that clearly spell out what you can change, why you might want to, and how. This gives the power user ultimate control, gives a newbie a chance to learn, and gives the clueless nothing to worry about.
ttancm
January 11th, 2007 at 4:19 am
9One thing I wish they would decide on plugins as a whole is where the plugin admin interface is going to be. I’m tired of installing and activating a plugin and then having to hunt through the entire WordPress admin menu to find if the plugin menu is under plugins, options, dashboard, etc.
Justin
January 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
10@ttancm: That is a good point, I feel there should be a standard as well. Perhaps this is something that could be pushed for easily. If plugin developers all worked together, I think it could be done rather quickly too.
Anne Helmond » Review: Justin Shattuck’s site
March 8th, 2007 at 2:47 am
11[…] Posted by anne on 08 Mar 2007 at 10:47 am | Tagged as: usability, wordpress themes I first came into “contact” with Justin Shattuck’s when I commented on his post about Wordpress Plugin Development. He seemed to be asking the same questions as I was regarding the configuring and using of WordPress plugins. I am planning on dealing with some of these issues in my MA thesis Blog Software and the Act of Blogging. […]
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