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Jeff Chandler

New WordPress Plugin Directory Now in Open Beta

For the past few months, members of the WordPress Meta team have been hard at work redesigning the WordPress Plugin Directory. That’s why I was surprised to hear a rumor that the project was shut down.

I reached out to Konstantin Obenland, WordPress core contributor, who confirmed a number of items. The first is that the project is far from being shut down. In fact, this past weekend at WordCamp Europe, Obenland announced that the new directory is in open beta.

The team received feedback from Matt Mullenweg which is changing the direction and design of the page. “We’re really just at the beginning of design iterations,” Obenland said. “He thinks we can do better, which he’s right about. We can and we should.”

One of the main features of the redesign is the ability for plugin authors to login to wp-admin. Based on feedback received from Mullenweg, that’s no longer an option.

“Wp-admin was more of a playground for us to test things that we wondered if they would make sense for plugin devs to have,” Obenland said.

“The final version will be closer to the current version where it’s handled in the front-end, though I personally would like to see an administration area removed from the plugin detail page that would allow us to give devs more of a dashboard of all their plugins.”

Plugin authors are encouraged to browse the new directory and if you encounter any issues or bugs, to report them by creating tickets on Meta Trac. Plugin authors, let us know what you think of the new design in the comments.

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48 responses to “New WordPress Plugin Directory Now in Open Beta”

  1. That is AWESOME news! It’s looking great.

    The plugin search didn’t give the bets results that’s for sure, with a better ranking algo it will mean more reliable access to top plugins for everyone, which means a better WordPress experience for everyone. Cool.

  2. We and other plugin authors have voiced some concerns with the redesign.

    For many plugins with a larger install base, support (even free support) is handled off site in places like HelpScout or ZenDesk to make it easier for their teams to manage and provide a better experience for their users.

    You can easily see from our customer reviews that we provide a great support experience from the majority of our users, but because of the new highlighted support metric (https://goo.gl/wk3TVf) it makes it look like we don’t support our users at all.

    It’s especially frustrating that plugins like bbPress and BuddyPress can have their support forums on their own sites instead of using the default forums, but this same courtesy is not offered to other plugins.

    The argument from the WordPress team is of course that all support should be managed in the same place for every single plugin. While this is a noble effort, it’s incredibly short sighted and misguided.

    This change seems intended to penalize plugin developers who choose solutions outside of the forums to support their tools. Unfortunately the WordPress forums are an incredibly poor avenue for support compared to proper support-centric tools like HelpScout and others.

    In fact, to this day we have 10 times the support requests directly to our website than on the WordPress.org forums. There is something to be said about that as well…users are not finding this a significant barrier and as a result we are able to provide a much higher level of support.

    It’s still support that’s just one click away if we could redirect to our site from the plugins page. Our current support form doesn’t require a log in of any sort so it’s actually a significantly improved user flow.

    Using our own form also allows us to ask for more specific data about their site that users might not necessarily want to be public knowledge, including a list of other plugins running on the site, PHP/WordPress versions, specific site URL’s and more. This allows us to respond more accurately to users from the very first interaction rather than a constant back and forth in the forums gathering that extra detail.

    I understand that the WordPress team is not FORCING developers to use the forums for support, but the decision to highlight these meaningless .org support metrics does indeed penalize organizations that have chosen a better support platform for their users. This decision also penalizes organizations who opt not to use the public support forums for the safety and security of their users.

    As an example, if the user is encountering an issue because they’re on a very old, unsupported, and insecure version of PHP like 5.2, that information in conjunction with their URL should not be posted publicly because it could make them a target. We would also want to know their WordPress version, what other plugins they may have installed, their themes, and more. None of this information should be publically available and/or searchable but the WordPress team insists it’s the best user experience.

    Here is the pro for this new design :

    1. All repo plugins have support in the same place (which is not at all a pro for developers, especially who have very large install bases and/or larger support teams to manage)

    Here are the cons:

    1. Unnecessary increase in number of support interactions
    2. Poorer response quality as a result of missing information
    3. Potential security implications from user responses
    4. Poorer plugin metrics for plugin authors to find pain points in the plugin
    5. Decreased ability to discern/filter out higher impact issues
    6. Decreased ability to manage large scale support teams
    7. High probability of confusing users who believe the issue is something else discussed in the forum that was patched years ago

    I’m not against these support forums entirely…I’m against them being used as a primary metric to determine user satisfaction of the plugin. The review system is already there for this very purpose. If users feel they are not being supported, they will certainly leave poor reviews (many leave poor reviews for much more innocent reasons than that).

    If the argument is for a better user experience, the pros and cons list above is pretty damning of that.

    Our users consistently report a fantastic support experience where we are able to confidentially gather more information and assist on a more personal level specifically because we do not offer support on .org.

    With this new design, it makes it look to new users like we don’t support our product which is simply not true. Developers will be penalized for trying to go above and beyond for our users with external support systems.

    If this is honestly being done for the good of the WordPress community, than we feel more members of the community need the opportunity to come together and discuss these changes and their implications. That’s all we’re looking for…a more open dialog where the community the most impacted by these changes can voice their concerns, and have those concerns heard instead of written off.

    At this moment, we and other plugin authors are consistently being met with the attitude that it’s just the way things are going to be and we need to accept it, and that’s a troubling prospect for a community project like WordPress.

    • Seriously?

      I just checked out your “official” support forum on .org and you deserve that rating.

      You don’t respond to ANYONE in the forums and just leave them hanging figuring there’s no support. Even if you do transfer them over to another solution, those that don’t know just see a bunch of unanswered questions.

      With your solution others don’t get the benefit of seeing the answers.

      A “community project” still has to have someone (or a group) making the final decisions. Just because *you* disagree doesn’t make it wrong.

      • We let our users know in the sticky at the top of the thread that we don’t offer support there and direct them to our support form for all of the reasons I outlined in the post above. It’s a significantly better user experience than using the forums.

        As for people seeing the answers in a searchable way, the answers today will not be the same answers tomorrow. Forums lead to users incorrectly self diagnosing their issues based on past posts which causes them even more frustration and time loss. An archive of old answers isn’t a substitute for direct support from the developer.

        Those support requests in the forums are 0.0001 percent of our total user base, and less than 10 percent of the users that reach out to us for support. Most are answered by community members like the incredible “repsectyoda”, find our documentation, or reach out to us directly.

        Besides the review you just added in protest of our policy, you will find that the vast majority of comments in our reviews concerning our support are about how responsive and helpful we are.

        The forums are not and should not be the end all be all of plugin support.
        They are clunky, they are insecure, they archive bad data, and more.

        • Yes, because EVERYBODY reads the sticky. Seriously?

          Justify it however you want – you *appear* to those on .org to offer ZERO support – sticky or not.

          If you’re comfortable running a business like that….well…..whatever….

    • Wow, Zach. You and I almost agree on something: I never thought that would happen. There’s no reason for plugin developers to have to provide front-line support on WordPress.org forums. This is GPL, we are providing our work for free and we should be free to provide our support within our own support systems.

      I feel a noose quietly being tightened around plugin developers’ necks.

      • I was waiting for someone to use the “it’s free so I can do whatever I want – wahhhhhhhhhh” card.

        That noose has been coming (rightfully so) for a very long time.

      • @Zach, @Alec:

        There is absolutely nothing stopping you or any other plugin developer from providing support using your own third-party system, but you have to work within the confines of what you’re given.

        Frankly, it smacks a bit of entitlement to in one sentence say “we’re doing this for free, we should be free to do what we want” and in yet another completely disregard the fact that WordPress.org is providing the distribution platform, the support system, the audience, and the exposure – all for free. I get that the support system is lacking in a lot of ways, but your point becomes almost completely moot when you actively disregard the other incredibly valuable benefits you’re gaining for free in listing a plugin on .org.

        If you want full control, then don’t list on .org. Sometimes you gotta dance with the one that brung ya.

        • Sure, Drew! We definitely don’t ascribe to the view that “It’s free so we should be able to do whatever.” I think that’s a really toxic view to take in any community.

          Our main objections, to sum up my novel above, are simply these two things:

          First, highlighting forum responses as the only visible support metric when that’s clearly not the case. New users will think we don’t provide support at all while most of our current users believe we provide excellent support.

          Secondly, it’s frustrating that some plugins are permitted to redirect to their own systems (like bbPress and BuddyPress) but no other plugins are permitted to do so. The argument that I’ve heard is that bbPress and BuddyPress share logins with .org so it’s okay, but you are not auto logged into those sites at all and it still requires an extra step to submit a support issue…our form does not.

          Being able to direct users to our support form directly from .org would be a massive win for our community of users, hands down.

          We want what’s best for our users, and we simply can’t do what is best for them within the strict confines the WordPress forums. It’s just unfortunate to be penalized for that by highlighting a metric that in reality has no bearing on the quality of our support.

        • Thanks for your perspective Drew. My perspectie is probably in some ways quite different than of WP Ninja who are focused exclusively on commercial freemium products.

          Over the years Foliovision has primarily provided free plugins at pro level (whether for SEO or WYSIWYG or antispam), with no view to monetise those contributions. Our focus is not on freemium. We offer only one paid plugin out of fifteen, not including other plugins to which we’ve contributed significantly (probably another half dozen).

          We’ve been building this free software for the community for ten years now. In turn I’d suggest to you that it’s free plugin developers like us who have made our collective project, WordPress, so popular. In turn, a little bit of respect for our contribution and our work would not be out of place. The lump it or leave it attitude in your last post feels ungracious.

          I also see no reason why we should be on opposite sides, apart from a strong external force pulling in one direction. These improvements – before the commercialisation of WordPress, both by the plugin developers and Automatatic – were made as a community. I’d suggest we should stay a community. No commercial organisation should be allowed to exert overwhelming pressure to overrule the community.

        • Without plugins there is no WordPress, catering more to and helping plugin devs more is a good thing. And hosting on wp.org is not free, you give up control in a sense to wp.org team and provide WP with more growth potential. WP.org needs plugin devs more than plugin devs needs .org if one wants to be black and white about it.

    • I actually like the new highlight of the support forum.

      We do not use the support forums on .org as the primary means of support for any of our large plugins (like https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-digital-downloads/), but we do pay attention to them.

      Frankly, I believe that ignoring the forums, with or without a sticky notice, is a disservice to yourself and your team.

      Can it be annoying to have a few support questions outside of your main support system? Absolutely, but that’s not really that different than getting questions via Twitter, Facebook, email, etc.

      The .org forums actually provide an excellent tool to help potential users gauge the quality of the plugin and the support provided by the team behind it.

      Help Scout and other ticketing systems are private (as they should be), but the wp.org support forums are public. Use that to your advantage! Use them as a tool to advertise how f’ing awesome your team is.

      Users that see great support given in the forums are going to be far more likely to use and be happy with a plugin than a user that sees nothing but silence on dozens or hundreds of posts.

      The new highlight of resolved support posts is a superb opportunity for all plugin authors to help make their plugin stand out from the crowd.

      • I certainly respect your opinion, and you’re not wrong but I think we’re approaching the issue from differing mindsets.

        For us, it’s not just about tickets outside of our support system. That would be a pretty petty reason to complain.

        The issue is the quality of support that we can provide in those places doesn’t match what we can provide in our support system. On Twitter and Facebook, for example, there are still private methods of messaging users and handling more sensitive data. Even through those channels, we almost always redirect to our support form anyway to get the additional data that we need to provide the best support experience.

        It still also is a frustrating double standard that some plugins are permitted to redirect their support links in the repo, but not all.

        If the goal of the support metric is to indicate quality plugins/teams, it seems the review system already works really well for that and we’re just calling attention to more unnecessary features.

        If the goal is better user experience, I believe we can prove we already offer that to our users better than we can in the forums.

        Sure, it CAN be an opportunity to differentiate yourself , sure…but the opportunity itself doesn’t mean it’s something we should all rally behind. There’s already a way to differentiate yourself through user feedback, and this metric is entirely arbitrary in comparison.

        • I don’t disagree at all about the support experience (for both sides) being better externally.

          My point was simply that ignoring the support forums is a disservice to yourself and users.

          Use them as an weapon in your arsenal to build an awesome product with a great following instead of treating them like some black mark that is a burden.

          They are a tool and an asset that can benefit you greatly.

          Note: I would LOVE to be able to redirect to an external page, but that’s not something I ever expect to get.

      • Agreed – We use a sticky to let people know that we prefer they use our support form/Helpscout if they need support. Some do, some do not.

        Is it annoying to get the occasional ticket on the wp.org forums? Yes. We always end our response by making it clear to them they should use our help system in the future. It’s not a horrible workflow and most users catch on quickly.

        I’d still prefer doing support on wp.org over Twitter.

        • @Jason

          Is it annoying to get the occasional ticket on the wp.org forums? Yes.

          Wow. Just wow.

          As a provider that pushes a really expensive solution that certainly is an…….odd……attitude. Scolding customers and potential customers as you do in the .org forums is unacceptable IMO.

          Sorry…..my opinion….

          • We don’t scold anyone. It’s not like that. We just set a boundary: if you would like free support for our free software you’ll have the best luck getting by using the channels the developers prefer. Did you see somewhere in which we scolded our users? I hope not. Let me know.

    • I’ve got two ideas that might solve your problem. The second one would be by far, the faster to implement and use right away:

      1st idea – You (and all of us too!) should suggest wordpress.org forum dev teams to add a ‘secret field’ in the support threads. I don’t know if you know how vBulletin support forums work? Their support threads work as any other forum in the internet, but they also feature in every single support thread, a “private field” where only the support member and the customer who starts the support thread have access. That is the place to put URLs, user names, ftp addresses, licence numbers, or even (temporary) passwords!

      [The only problem I find with this idea if the fact that wordpress.org changes only get fast implementations when Matt Mullenweg is the author of those ideas… :p ]

      2nd idea – (This is faster to do) I agree with you when you state the different treatment that plugin authors receive when compared with bbPress and BuddyPress, but you could just start going to your wordpress.org plugin forums once a week and start responding to support threads.
      On some of the support answers, I believe that giving a kind of “canned message” to your plugin users stating that if they want better support, they should go to your support website and start a support thread in there would be just fine.

      There you go!
      No more unanswered threads.
      No more bad ratings from your plugin users.
      And more popularity to your plugins in the repository.

      • We have plans to implement the second soon. It’s just frustrating to be bound to an arbitrary metric that doesn’t accurately reflect user satisfaction.

    • @Zachary Skaggs, I see your problem. But you have to understand that the forum is not just a way for the plugin developer to answer support questions, it’s also a place for other developers, implementers, and users to support other users. None of that, including the sort of knowledgebase it creates, it’s given by a form-based 1-to-1 support. Not that this isn’t great, of course, but it’s not the same thing.

      I do, however, agree with you as to the preference given to some plugins. It’s starting to feel really odd having always the same featured plugins…

      As to the support forum for each plugin, one thing that really bothers me is the search being so bad. That should, as I see it, be the number one priority regarding features for the plugin repository, and wp.org in general.

    • Just to chime into @Zachary Skaggs comment:

      The argument from the WordPress team is of course that all support should be managed in the same place for every single plugin. While this is a noble effort, it’s incredibly short sighted and misguided.

      This change seems intended to penalize plugin developers who choose solutions outside of the forums to support their tools. Unfortunately the WordPress forums are an incredibly poor avenue for support compared to proper support-centric tools like HelpScout and others.

      Why use the word “penalize”? It’s not that at all.

      Here’s my take on this, it really is about the reputation of the whole community. IMHO that’s why a plugin’s support link should not go to a third party site. While you and others are responsible, reputable, professional etc. there are many more that will and can exploit users.

      Of course that can still happen when users are directed by someone to an author’s site. But I think you can see that being told by an author to seek support elsewhere is not the same as being sent there via a WordPress plugin page.

      • While you and others are responsible, reputable, professional etc. there are many more that will and can exploit users.

        I thought that was what reviews are for Jan.

        Someone has an interest dispossessing us and disempowering us (plugin developers): this new design does not allow for complex search and users will have to simply “trust” the new algorithms for discovery. It’s really not okay. Why are you – the self-described “Brute Squad” – telling us – the community – what it is we want.

        • @Alec I’m linking to the comment because sometimes comment threads go askew here.

          A few things in order of importance.

          First and very important: My forum title of “Brute Squad” is a reference to one of my favorite movies of all time The Princess Bride.

          It’s not just a movie, it symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation summed up in two words “Princess” and “Bride”.

          Second (and a remote second it is): Where can you leave a review for WordPress itself? (hint: the Requests and Feedback sub-forum).

          I’m not talking about reviews for any author’s reputation, I’m referring to WordPress itself as a community.

          Taking advantage of the plugin page at the WordPress repo is a benefit to the authors. It’s not a big ask or even imposition to have the support link point to the WordPress community volunteer forums.

          Having it point directly to a 3rd party site could go epically wrong for the user. Replying and providing support for the “free” version of the plugin in the forums isn’t a big deal or trade off.

          Many plugin authors do and provide support in both successfully all the time. When someone says they have the “pro” version of the plugin they reply with “Hey, please start a ticket at this site ” and that works.

          An author may not like the lack of control or features in the WordPress forums, and that’s where the moderators add value, but the community volunteer support model works.

  3. First, thanks to the Meta team for the hard work on the redesign! A refresh is definitely welcome, and the time and effort invested in it is appreciated.

    The design definitely looks a lot cleaner and more modern, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the “throw everything on a single page” approach. It feels like it’s throwing a ton of information at people rather than letting developers choose which information is most important to put on the “description” tab.

    While I love the more prominent banner and removing sidebar / “boxiness” of the layout, and there are a few concerns I have:

    1. Most of the plugin description is hidden, which is the most important part for new users. A fair bit of the time, users don’t read what the plugin does or does not do, causing unnecessary support requests or poor reviews; hiding this text from the start may make it less likely that the user reads through this valuable information.

    2. Wouldn’t hiding this text initially have negative SEO consequences for plugin pages? It’s my understanding that text hidden initially is weighted less for SEO (this thread is relevant as well).

    3. There’s no “other notes” section as there is currently on plugin pages to add additional info for users or developers. (Such as translation information or a hook reference.)

    4. While the installation guide isn’t too much of a loss since a lot of plugin developers didn’t use it, linking to generic installation documentation would be nice. However, some plugin developers put set up instructions here, and losing this + the “other notes” tab gives them no way to separate description from instructions.

    5. The “developers” tab currently has a convenient version list for users to download a specific version, which is now lost (users are going to get intimidated having to look at the dev log instead).

    6. The “stats” view is no longer available, which is useful to see a rough idea of version usage.

    7. A lot of plugins are built by a team or multiple contributors; this new layout shows who submitted the plugin as the author, then lists contributors and developers at the bottom. We’d need a way to set the single “Author” for the top of the listing instead of just using the original submitter. For some of my plugins, the original author isn’t even on the “contributors” list anymore (it was an old .org profile that’s no longer in use), yet that author is listed at the top of the plugin page rather than using the first Author in the contributors list.

    8. While you can use an anchor link like #changelog, many users probably won’t know this and can no longer link directly to sections of the plugin page (such as the FAQ).

    I do like that the plugin icon and banner are shown, which helps users if they search via Plugins > Add New to ensure they’re getting the right plugin, and the sidebar area with categories and reviews is nice. I would definitely love to see some improvements in how the layout is organized however.

  5. I am really missing the quick jumplinks:(

    Now i have scroll like crazy to go to relevant sections.

    At all, its looking really nice and beautiful from a design perspective but 2 things are missing:

    – Scroll/Jump back link on bottom of page, especially for larger sections

    Edit: When i am logged in, i am able to click the admin bar for jumping back so thats at least a little compensation

  6. Hi,

    To be honest, currently I still prefer the old plugin directory because of the tabs on single plugin page. It’s clean and simple.

    Besides this, in new version the ‘Active Installs’ is only mentioned on the single plugin page. When I search for a plugin I prefer a popluar one and I cannot determine this based on the current layout of the front page and search results page.

    Guido

  7. While I appreciate the aesthetic of the new design, I feel that the tabbed sections of the current design are far more user friendly. When landing on a plugin page, the most important thing is the description of what the plugin actually does. This shouldn’t be truncated imho.

    I guess the question becomes, was there really any issue with the current layout, other than not being very mobile friendly? I feel a lot of usability has been stripped, such as reviews being the only metric on plugin search pages, for no apparent reason. If you look at most digital market places online, such as codecanyon, mojo, etc., they use reviews + other metrics. We have the metrics on WordPress.org so why not use them and provide people with additional info about a plugin right from the search page?

    Sorry, I know you guys are probably getting a deluge of feedback and it must be frustrating given all the hard work. I do like the aesthetic, but I feel usability is suffering a bit.

  8. Ouch!

    I know minimalist design is the “in” thing but that’s just ridiculous.

    I’m speechless……I’m not going to waste one more second trying to explain what’s wrong with that mess.

    Short answer: EVERYTHING!

    • I personally took that feedback to Konstantin Obenland at WordCamp Europe. One could palpably feel he was not interested in feedback about the missing information. As if the decision has already been taken and it’s just a question of pushing it through. It seems to me, there’s orders from above to simplify/stupidify everything in WordPress and WordPress.org. Those orders don’t affect everyone – there’s been lots of pushback against the new design – yet the Automattic team are pushing them relentlessly.

      On our end, we absolutely need the number of installs to be able to evaluate plugins from the search page. Are we expected to pick plugins based on pretty icons?

      I find this all very strange – the main users of the WordPress.org plugins directory are developers – many of us spend hours in there every week. I don’t mean as developers looking at our own plugins but looking for new plugins to scratch a client itch or alternatives to good plugins gone out of date. Why is the primary users’ feedback being ignored?

      • I find this all very strange – the main users of the WordPress.org plugins directory are developers – many of us spend hours in there every week.

        Wow. I would love to know what data you based that conclusion off of.

        • I was wondering exactly the same thing myself.

          You know what they say about ASSumptions…..

        • Drew, developers in this case was not short form for “plugin developers” but rather “web developers”. Who do you think it is out there building all those WordPress sites? It’s unlikely that it’s end users. As Matt Mullenweg said at WordCamp Europe, only 4% of sites get updates beyond the first two weeks. Logically it follows that the long term and steady users of the plugin directory are indeed web developers, whether agency, client or freelance.

  9. Whilst I appreciate the work that has been done on redesigning WP.org Plugin pages I’m seriously baffled by the single plugin page design. I just don’t understand the UX/UI behind the page at all…

    – Why get rid of quick links/tabs?
    – Why throw everything on one page with a super messy layout as a result?
    – Why no permalinks for stuff like changelog/description/screenshots for easy linking?

    I’m also worried about the lack of filter/search options that will surely have a big impact on smaller plugins or plugins meant to extend existing plugins (ACF/BuddyPress etc).

  10. I agree with a lot of things said before: click to “read more” is just a waste of time comparing to the old site. I manage a WP plugin’s review blog so I take a look at all new plugins that looks interesting for me and I’m sure I will lose some precious time with this new ergonomy.
    Too bad because I like the look.

  11. First of all, props to the Meta team working hard to make the plugins’ directory better.

    I like it but there are several concerns. The description area is really important and it is nowhere to be found as in, way too small real estate for such an important section. Video helps in conversion what if the user doesn’t click read more to see there indeed is a video in the description.

  12. Aren’t BBPress and BuddyPress part of the Automattic family?

    Technically speaking they are not going to their own thing. it is all part of the same family.

    • WordPress.org isn’t Automattic. At least it’s not supposed to be.

      WordPress.org is SUPPOSED to be run and maintained by the community. The issue is that the majority of the core commits are from Automattic employees so I suppose in that sense it’s fair that they have so much pull over WordPress.org though still a bit concerning at times that their projects receive such special treatment.

      • The issue is that the majority of the core commits are from Automattic employees

        Yeah, no :-) https://wptavern.com/sixty-three-percent-of-wordpress-core-committers-are-not-employed-by-automattic

        That said, I don’t work for Automattic and I’m a member of the meta team that works on .org projects. Personally, I’m not really a fan either of the preferential treatment bbPress and BuddyPress get on .org. I can see it with bbPress because we actively dogfood it for the forums, but BuddyPress? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        They each have their own forums, their own Trac instances on .org, and special links to said forums from their plugin pages as previously mentioned. I’ve seen bbPress and BuddyPress referenced as “WordPress.org properties” before as the justification for why they get special treatment, so I guess the question is, “which are they? WordPress.org properties or Automattic properties?”

  13. yet another nay sayer here. The one page design is confusing and pointless, stats are important.

    As for the support, this is kinda funny, as people get the plugins from wordpress.org so in theory it is wordpress.org that should support them. I don’t understand why I should be “punished” for not supporting someone that didn’t get the code from me. You can’t even customize the form so people will be reminded to provide essential information like php,plugin, and wp versions.

    And I say this as someone with a perfect record which intends to maintain it https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/category-posts but I can understand how people with a more complex plugins are getting annoyed with the situation.

  14. Thanks to the Meta Team for their efforts regarding this!

    I agree with some of the points brought up here. One thing is the description area is too small (and the other parts as well). I don’t really notice also the read more button to expand the areas. Personally this is okay for the screenshots area and the rest, but perhaps making the description area bigger would fix this.

    I also noticed that the search results are a bit awkward. Searching for “SEO” in both the new and current plugin directories give very different results. The old one showed SEO plugins, but Yoast SEO isn’t on the front page. I don’t know the stats on how many people are searching the keyword “SEO” but are actually looking for Yoast SEO, but I thought at least it would show up in the front page in the current directory.

    But in the new one, searching for “SEO” showed Yoast SEO at the top. However the rest of the results have a lot of non-SEO plugins in the list (galleries, security plugins, social sharing, JetPack, and others). I don’t think this is an intended result. And I think what happened is that a lot more weight was put into how established a plugin was and this has affected the search results.

    I’ve commented on the Trac ticket about the search thing: https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1692#comment:52

  16. I went ahead and made some new wireframes:
    http://easywebdesigntutorials.com/the-new-wordpress-org-plugin-repository/

    They include search, view options for viewing active installs, author, latest update, compatible up to version etc.

    I brought tabs back into the single plugin page.

    Other thoughts are..
    – Responsive design. Got a huge monitor then see 4-5-6 columns of plugins. Got a small screen see 1-2 columns.
    – Infinite scroll. Scroll your way down the page looking at plugins.

    • These are some great thoughts Paal. Glad to see someone understands that the plugin directory search and filtering ought to be made more powerful and personalisable, instead of crippled further (current search and filtering is weak).

      The aesthetics could use some additional work (I don’t think search should include star ratings unless it’s in complex search where one includes both keyword and minimum star rating) but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

  18. Just a quick feedback:
    Replies to Review are not shown, and even their existence is not shown. Most times this doesnt matter, but occasionally people don’t ask for support around what they think is wrong and then leave their ‘problem’ in the review. Classic example
    https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excellent-plugin-with-one-big-drawback/

    In the one page, it just looks like there is a big problem with no response.
    Also would be good to have clear quick navigation at the top – rather than having to scroll down to find the support link, where’s the review links, what happened to the stats?

    Also personally I don’t like the trend to push things down ‘below the fold’ of smaller screens. I’d like to see the nav and real content (not just images) quicker.

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