The WordPress Plugin Directory Is Getting a Makeover

photo credit: Patryk Dziejma
photo credit: Patryk Dziejma

In February 2015, the WordPress Theme Directory launched a new design. Konstantin Obenland worked with Samuel “Otto” Wood and the WordPress meta team to update the design and move the directory off of bbPress. Today Obenland announced that the Plugin Directory will be getting a similar treatment.

Version 3 of the Plugin Directory will focus heavily on improving the search interface, including prioritizing translated plugins for international users. Another major goal of the redesign is to streamline the plugin submission and review process. The new directory will be powered by WordPress, instead of bbPress, which will make it easier for plugin developers and reviewers to manage plugins, tags/categories, and committers.

According to the project overview, plugins will be saved in a custom post type, offering reviewers a more efficient workflow that makes use of post statuses with capability controlled permissions. This will also make it possible to run automated checks on plugins, which should reduce the number of inconsistencies in the review process.

The meta team plans to hit milestones every two weeks in order to ship version 3 by June 26, 2016. Obenland is aiming for getting a minimal viable product off the ground by March 1st, which would includes the plugin CPT, readme.txt parsing, and a basic display on the frontend. A full overview of the project and the tickets that will need to be addressed is available on the make.wordpress.org/meta P2. New contributors are welcome to jump in on Meta Trac and in the #meta Slack channel.

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13 responses to “The WordPress Plugin Directory Is Getting a Makeover”

  1. I’m looking forward to seeing it evolve. I think they started with the theme directory so they could see what worked before tackling the plugins. I’d think plugins will be a bigger project, with more variations and exceptions.

  2. Very happy to see it rolling! Make it rock, folks!

    I wish I could jump in and work with the team full time- I do have plenty experiences around the niche and passions for it, too- only, if only I would not have to work for paying the bills. Alas- :)

  3. Really looking forward to these updates! Still waiting for the day that the plugin review team is open to others joining :)

  4. Please don’t tell me the welded-back-on hammer head is an indication of something…
    (jk)

  5. Faceted search would straight-up rock. Alongside modified_date() and tagging antiquated plugin in a cron queue for deletion/delist priority state ;)

  6. I think plugin directory is fine but there should be more skins or themes for WordPress dashboard because sometimes it looks so boring :P

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