Andrew Rickmann over on his WP Fun WordPress centric site divvied up an interesting question today and that is, what would it take for you to use a plugin that replaced a core feature of WordPress?
My answer to this question is yes. An example I can think of off the top of my head is the new Widget Management system that is taking shape in WordPress 2.8. If this new management system provides a way for me to assign widgets to specific points on my WordPress powered site but the implementation contains a terrible user interface or works in such a way that I don’t agree with, I’m more than likely to stick with Kaspar’s Widget Context plugin.
Another example I can think of is my thoughts on how WordPress works with Post Revisions. No need to dig back into the archives to replay my thoughts on the Post Revision system in WordPress but I love the fact that I can use a plugin which reworks the default functionality into something I agree with.
So while Andrew’s initial thought is that many people would not use something because it contradicts the core, at least a few of us out there is willing to go against the grain.
I have one site that I am not upgrading from 2.6.5 because (a) it doesn’t need threaded comments, (b) Ozh comment plugin was better than the core replacement, and (c)the 2.7/2.71 UI is slower and less usable.
With every releases since 2.6 I’ve found myself using more custom functions and plugins to override the core.
With my 2.7+ sites I am blocking auto updates, filtering out the generator tag, wpautop and wptexturize, turning off wlwmanifest_link and rsd and blocking all dashboard feeds. Post revisions are customised. I neither need or want widget management from the core so will probably disable this in 2.8 as well.
When it comes to what the software does for my sites I like to have complete control ;)