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Opened 4 years ago

Last modified 4 years ago

#49817 new enhancement

Simple Site Health Improvement to Check for Plugin Compatibility wiith Latest WP Version Release

Reported by: aussiedigitalnomad's profile aussiedigitalnomad Owned by:
Milestone: Awaiting Review Priority: normal
Severity: normal Version: 5.2
Component: Site Health Keywords:
Focuses: administration Cc:

Description

Before upgrading to the latest version of WordPress (5.4), I always first check whether the plugins I'm using are compatible up to that version. To do this I have to go into each plugins' details manually and check what version of WP that it's compatible up to.
When there's 20 or so plugins on a site and I'm managing 4 or 5 sites it becomes very time consuming. It can often take a few weeks for the developers to update their plugin to be compatible with the latest version of WP, so checking multiple times on top of that. Once I know the critical plugins are compatible, only then will I upgrade WordPress to the latest version.

So my suggestion is that in the Site Health report under the Info tab under the Active and Inactive Plugins sections, that the version of WP that the plugin is compatible up to is included in the table. Possibly even the last date the plugin was updated as well, but that's not as important.

Would be a big time saver for me, and probably many others too.

Thanks

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WordPress Suggestion.jpg (97.2 KB) - added by aussiedigitalnomad 4 years ago.
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Change History (6)

@aussiedigitalnomad
4 years ago

Visual idea of suggestion

#1 @aussiedigitalnomad
4 years ago

Also, colour-coding it would also show the plugins compatibility with the currently installed version of WordPress.
Note: Version numbers shown for each plugin are not correct and just used to illustrate the point

#2 @mukesh27
4 years ago

  • Component changed from General to Site Health

#3 follow-up: @Clorith
4 years ago

  • Keywords dev-feedback removed
  • Version changed from 5.4 to 5.2

Hi there, and welcome to the WordPress trac!

I'm afraid I don't quite see the need for implementing more columns here, the screen in question is intended as a debug tool, to give a quick overview that you can share with a support representative of some sort. It would also very likely give the wrong impression, as a plugin may jut not have changed the tested with string in their readme, but the plugin works perfectly well regardless.

If you're worried about wanting plugins to be updated, the updates screen shows that information for the actively used, and the latest version of, WordPress.

If I'm missing something, please feel free to elaborate though.

#4 in reply to: ↑ 3 @aussiedigitalnomad
4 years ago

Replying to Clorith:

Hi there, and welcome to the WordPress trac!

I'm afraid I don't quite see the need for implementing more columns here, the screen in question is intended as a debug tool, to give a quick overview that you can share with a support representative of some sort. It would also very likely give the wrong impression, as a plugin may jut not have changed the tested with string in their readme, but the plugin works perfectly well regardless.

If you're worried about wanting plugins to be updated, the updates screen shows that information for the actively used, and the latest version of, WordPress.

If I'm missing something, please feel free to elaborate though.

#5 @aussiedigitalnomad
4 years ago

Hi there and thanks for the response.
However, I think you may have missed my point.

For example, I have 29 plugins on my site. 2 were updated yesterday and the authors indicated that they are compatible with WP 5.5
There were 2 more plugins updated today.
At least I know that these authors have taken the time to check whats new in WP and that it doesn't affect their plugin, or that they've made the necessary changes to make it compatible.
The others plugins are unknowns at this stage.

So, if I update WP to 5.5 now, I am taking a much higher risk in breaking the site with 24 plugins that have not been checked for compatibility. That is an unacceptable risk for me.
At least when a plugin is updated, the risk is much more limited to the functionality of that particular plugin.
Whereas, when WP has an update, with it being the underlying engine, then it affects all plugins. Especially when it's a major update like this one to 5.5
If I have 24 plugins that have not been checked, that risk is substantial. I've got a software testing background so understand the need for thorough testing and backward compatibility testing.

Even though the Updates page shows the plugins that need to be updated and their version compatibility with WP, unfortunately, after it's updated the information disappears and is not easily accessible.
So, at the moment I either need to keep a record of which plugins have been updated and are compatible, or regularly go back again and again into each plugins details and check them individually...a time consuming task! Hence my original ticket.

I'll often wait a couple of months before upgrading WP, to allow the authors of the plugins to verify their compatibility. This is not ideal I know, but neither is breaking my site cause of compatibility errors.
If the author has not updated their plugin for a long time and possibly been abandoned, then we have to make the decision ourselves, is their plugin still working on our version of WP, or should I find another plugin that is actively being improved and tested with the latest versions of WP.

So, I understand that screen may not be the best placement for it, maybe a better place might be in the description on the Plugins page. If, as you said, the author has forgotten to add the compatibility string to their readme file, then it will become obvious to them when they see it displayed on their own plugins page and they can rectify the problem.

Please reconsider the necessity of displaying this information.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Chris

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