Activate Notice if Plugin already Installed

[DoodleDogCody]

I would like to suggests that if someone searchers for a plugin from the dashboard and that plugin is already installed. Instead of the button saying installed and greyed out, it should say Activate if the plugin is deactivated or Deactivate if the plugin is Activated. With a notice by the button that says plugin already installed. Or something to that effect.

This may sound like a weird requests but when working with a number of sites I get caught up in just using the install search for a plugin and then I see the already installed notice. From there I have to go back to plugins scroll through the list and click activate.

Seems like a minor feature that could make the user experience a tad bit better.

[helen]

Activate seems like it could work, not convinced about deactivate (since that's not really in the "install/make it work" vein). Would need to make sure we are clearly distinguishing between activate and install.

One issue I could see in the future is if/when we introduce in-place installation - activate would probably still need to take you away from the page, so then we really are mixing things up on one screen.

[DoodleDogCody]

I can see that. This really only comes up for things like rewriting urls or regenerating thumbnails. Things that are what I would consider a tool and used primarily during development. Sometimes I will deactivate the plugin and not delete it. So when coming back to the site later and wanting to perform that function the process usually goes something like this.

Login -> Hover over tools/settings and look for the page where the plugin belongs. If its not there go to plugins -> add new and type in the search box. When it returns the plugin and it says installed, I then have click back on plugins, scroll through the list and activate.

I agree deactivate probably wouldn't really work here and could cause confusion but changing "Installed" to "Installed - Activate Now" might be a good solution.

[valendesigns]

I've added two patches. The first, 31002.diff​ will simply add an "Activate" button, which redirects the user to plugins.php and activates the plugin. The second, 31002.1.diff​ will also add an "Activate" button. However, when you click the button the plugin will be activated and the user will be redirect back to plugin-install.php, while also maintaining their tab and search query so they can continue adding more plugins.

[swissspidy]

Could the shiny install / update be leveraged here?

For the current patch, I'd probably use esc_url and sprintf for increased readability.

[jtsternberg]

Replying to swissspidy:

For the current patch, I'd probably use esc_url and sprintf for increased readability.

Added 31002.2.diff. esc_url and sprintf are now used. I went off of 31002.diff, because I don't believe clicking 'activate' here should bring the user back to the plugin install page. Presumably, their mission is accomplished, and I believe the expected result would be to land on the plugin listing page. This is also consistent with the "install" buttons. When you click 'install', and then 'activate' on the next screen, it brings you to the plugin listing page.

[swissspidy]

31002.3.diff​ is an updated patch that simplifies things a bit by using $status['file'] and re-arranging the sprintf(). Instead of title attributes proper aria-label attributes are used for improved accessibility.

I also added a current_user_can( 'activate_plugins' ) capability check.

[swissspidy]

Still need to test it using Shiny Updates, but it seems to be good to go.

[obenland]

In 37714:

Update/Install: Shiny Updates v2.

Gone are the days of isolation and feelings of "meh", brought on by The Bleak Screen of Sadness. For a shiny knight has arrived to usher our plugins and themes along their arduous journey of installation, updates, and the inevitable fate of ultimate deletion.

Props swissspidy, adamsilverstein, mapk, afragen, ocean90, ryelle, j-falk, michael-arestad, melchoyce, DrewAPicture, AdamSoucie, ethitter, pento, dd32, kraftbj, Ipstenu, jorbin, afercia, stephdau, paulwilde, jipmoors, khag7, svovaf, jipmoors, obenland.
Fixes #22029, #25828, #31002, #31529, #31530, #31773, #33637, #35032.