Should Easter Eggs In WordPress Be Removed?

Once again, the discussion of WordPress and Easter eggs has popped up on the WP-Hackers mailing list. This time, it was a story shared by Eric Mann regarding a client of his who thought their website was hacked after accidentally triggering the Easter egg where you compare a revision to itself. The question Eric asked was whether or not there was a way he could turn it off to shelter clients from experiencing that behaviour. The discussion then turned into the best way to turn off Easter eggs in WordPress either through a define via the WP-Config file or an EasterEggs.php file but there was also a solution using Javascript that was shared later on in the thread.

After reading the discussion I always find it hilarious imagining someone stumbling across the Matrix Has You Easter Egg and then freaking out as if their site had been hacked. But after giving it some thought, I think this is one of those Easter Eggs that is too easily accessible for common folks to trigger. If people think there is an ANY key on a keyboard, it’s quite possible then to think this Easter Egg scares people. Over the course of the past year, the discussion of WordPress and Easter Eggs, more specifically the Matrix one has been discussed multiple times, each without a solution.

I don’t want to see Easter Eggs in WordPress disappear but I also don’t want end users accidentally doing something that causes them to flip out. I think the fun involved with the Matrix Easter egg has run its course and the revision compared against itself should instead show a warning or an error. So with that, I have a poll question for you to vote on. I’m also interested in your comments regarding WordPress and the Easter Egg situation.

[poll id=”37″]