Do we need a plugin repository?

maniqui · 2006-03-31 18:18:53

I cant have an opinion about SVN, update check and all that stuff because it’s very out of my scope and capacity of understanding.

I just want to throw the idea of a new TXP related site: www.textplugins.com
I know we have textpattern.org and it’s a great resource site (maybe http://plugins.textpattern.org ?).

The idea of TextPlugins is a site only related with/oriented to well… Textpattern plugins…
A very simple site.

It could be like our old and beloved “Central Plug-in List” on steroids.

I imagine just only a home page with a very large table with the following columns:
Plug-in name | Version/Last update | Supported since TXP version | Category… what else?

Again, something very simple, a large table.
The plug-ins could be stored inside textplugins.com or if the author prefers, in their own site. The download link will simple link to the url where the plug-in is stored.

Finally, a link from the admin side of TXP to textplugins.com would help to stay up-to-date for news related to plugins.

Yeah, I know… this could be another megamonumental task never finished and regulary outdatted if plug-in authors doesnt maintain it… But it could also be maintained by the community.

Andrew · 2006-03-31 18:22:19

Why not just lend a hand to alicson to clean up textpattern.org?

Mary · 2006-04-01 19:20:17

Yeah, we do have an existing site for this purpose, so we should try to make use of it first.

jesper · 2006-06-20 05:25:59

I am one of these pesky end users who would like to use some of these plugins. And I find it infuriating when you finally find a Plugin that does what you are after that all links to said plugin are dead. Even 6 months old plugins have dead links.

I fully understand and accept that it is up to the plugin coders discretion to decide on the amount of documentation and help they provide with a plugin. But wouldn’t it be reasonable that the community provide a central store for these plugins.

Developers are exactly that. Developers, early adapters, tinkerers and hackers always on the forefoot pushing things further and to the limit. Thus it can be no surprise that they actually change their own sites and structures and occational may loose prior content in the process. In fact they probably do so more than your average Joe Blogs. That is part of the fun and challenge when you are a developer, but wouldn’t it be fair that we provide a memory hole for some of these acheivements before they get lost in the next big thing.

I have run in to piles of dead links over the last two days to the point where I do almost not see any value of textpattern.org. where else on the internet these days do you run into a site with so many dead links? As the plugins are basically just text, couldn’t they be stored in a special article type field along with their description. You could still provide a link to the maintainers version and you could go there to make sure you get the latest version a bit like how download.com has the file locally but also link to the originators site.

Just my 5 cents from someone pissed off with dead links left right and center.

Last edited by jesper (2006-06-20 05:28:42)

Bastian · 2006-06-20 09:26:41

An plugin-svn would be a very nice toy!
But I don’t see its advantage.

Sencer wrote.

Which/Whose problem(s) are you solving by offering a central svn-repo?

Thats the point. I would like to work with a svn. I never did before.
But which problems developing txp-plugin would a svn solve? i don’t know.

But nice thread!

Andrew wrote:

Since Txp plugins are installed into the db rather than just droped into a /plugins

I like the txp-“str+c-install-and-done”-style of plugin install.
But often i forget to save plugins i installed and after some weeks i am searching and searching. So i hacked txp_plugin.php and save every plugin i install as .txt
That should be txp-core!

maniqui wrote:

It could be like our old and beloved “Central Plug-in List” on steroids.

That is what i want. A clean simple site including not more than infos from plugin-tab

hakjoon · 2006-06-20 12:21:49

Bastian wrote:
Thats the point. I would like to work with a svn. I never did before.

You should. It changes the way you work. Subversion has everything to get you up and running with a local repository with nothing else required other then Subversion. You should give it a try it’s worth it.

But which problems developing txp-plugin would a svn solve? i don’t know.

I thin the main thing is that it would keep plugin code form disappearing. I think it also makes it easier for developers to cooperate without each one having to setup a public facing SVN repo.

CMS Made Simple did something that I think works well with the CMSMS Forge running GForge Drupal and Ez-Publish also have similar community SVN systems. Basically if you want to develop an extension for the system you get an account which gives you SVN and a bug tracker. Developers don’t need to use them but if a plugin is ever released using the system the code won’t just go missing.

I also think a central repo would make it easier for self updating plugins since the repo can be setup to handle the updates through a common API instead of every developer having to add the upadate mechanism to their site.

Again I think the main benefit is still pugins not disappearing. The rest is just extra bonus.

TheEric · 2006-06-20 12:34:36

Wow. Long discussion about a simple subject.

What’s so hard about creating a distinct location where plugins can be uploaded and stored indefinitely? It’s needed as all too often plugins go missing due to whatever reason on the authors part.

Mary · 2006-06-20 21:00:22

They almost always go missing when they are hopelessly outdated. Having a copy of an outdated version is just as useless as not having one at all.

I repeat what someone else has said: one more place to upload makes no sense. Quite frankly, I won’t use it if it existed, I’ve got way too much to do already.

I don’t see anyone yet volunteering to help keep the existing plugin list, txp.org, updated. SVN won’t solve the problem. Another site that gets abandoned when the novelty wears off won’t solve it. There is no magic twinkie.

hakjoon · 2006-06-20 22:20:42

I actually feel that txp.org is pretty self maintaining and works pretty well. If a plugin no longer works all that needs to happen is for comment stating as such to be added. Community maintenance.

Personally I think Textbook is a better thing to spend time on then a community repo right now, even though I like the idea.

hcgtv · 2006-06-20 23:08:56

Mary wrote:

I don’t see anyone yet volunteering to help keep the existing plugin list, txp.org, updated.

That’s what has to happen, no upload mechanism, no matter how sophisticated, can take the place of people maintaining the plugin list.

Destry · 2006-07-11 20:10:26

Holy-smokies. I have to come out from under the rock more often. Anyway, it’s probably old news to some of you folks now but I threw up a place in TextBook to keep plugins, Plugin Archives.

It was meant to address the obvious problem of this forum being a shoddy place for accessing plugins. I realize something like .org would be a good place too, but I can do something about TextBook, I can’t about .org. In any case, I think the table archives in TextBook offer something .org doesn’t at the moment…an easy to scan page of the different plugins by name and by purpose. All that needs done now is for people to fill the tables up, and it doesn’t rely on the plugin authors having to do it (that’s the beauty), anyone can pick a plugin of their fancy and add it in.

I’ve configured the wiki to allow .txt and .zip file uploads to appeal to both types of plugin packages. Furthermore, the documentation page can be used by the commumity to create custom documentation for the plugin. Judging from this thread, plugin documentation is another BIG issue, and now there’s a free writing tablet for all minds to get busy.

Each table row is a plugin entry, and it bridges the author’s own Web site, the forum, and the TextBook nicely.

If you haven’t given it a look yet, you should at least do that. (And I won’t harp on this anymore.)

Last edited by Destry (2006-07-11 20:12:25)

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#31 2006-03-31 18:18:53

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#32 2006-03-31 18:22:19

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#33 2006-04-01 19:20:17

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#34 2006-06-20 05:25:59

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#35 2006-06-20 09:26:41

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#36 2006-06-20 12:21:49

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#37 2006-06-20 12:34:36

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#38 2006-06-20 21:00:22

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#39 2006-06-20 22:20:42

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#40 2006-06-20 23:08:56

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

#41 2006-07-11 20:10:26

Re: Do we need a plugin repository?

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