Plugin Uninstall - Make it optional to uninstall the plugin on delete if uninstall.php exists within the plugin folder

[sc0ttkclark]

There could be a function similar to

register_activation_hook( __FILE__, 'myplugin_activate' );

which could look like this

register_delete_hook( __FILE__, 'myplugin_delete' );

So that when you delete a plugin from the Plugin Admin interface, it will check the plugin's main file for that hook, if found it will run that function. The purpose of this would be to allow the plugin to cleanup data.

An optional prompt should be used on the delete screens to ask the user if they want to clear the plugin's "data" (only if the delete hook is found for the plugin). That would be most optimal.

Right now the only option is to go through that plugin, us the 'reset' function or something similar, deactivate, and then delete the plugin. It seems more logical to have a built-in wordpress hook that could call the plugin's delete function to remove the data.

[mrmist]

I thought that this was available by putting an uninstall.php in your plugin directory? Was that not implemented? Maybe I imagined it.

[sc0ttkclark]

Actually you are correct, so a new hook wouldn't be needed, but the uninstall should be optional to the user instead of included by default.

​http://codex.wordpress.org/Migrating_Plugins_and_Themes_to_2.7#Uninstall_Plugin_API

[jacobsantos]

I think you misunderstand the intentions of what the uninstall on delete is primarily for.

[jacobsantos]

What I mean is that your use case is fringe at best.

[jacobsantos]

However, your primary points are not invalid.

[sc0ttkclark]

Maybe there's a way to set the Description for this ticket to this to be more exact on what it's requesting:

When deleting a deactivated plugin through WordPress, the user should be presented with an option to run the plugin's "uninstall" process. If accepted, the "uninstall" process will run. Otherwise, the delete process will skip the "uninstall" process. If no "uninstall.php" file is found or the register_uninstall_hook is not set, then the prompt will not be shown.

This is to allow the ability for the user to retain plugin information for backup purposes.

[Denis-de-Bernardy]

simpler: the plugin should run the deactivate_plugin hook before being deleted no?

[sc0ttkclark]

I'm just calling for a confirmation step before uninstall.php or the uninstall hook's function is ran.

[DD32]

simpler: the plugin should run the deactivate_plugin hook before being deleted no?

No. The plugin is not active, And therefor, The deactivation hook should not be run.

The plugin has to be first inactive in order for the user to be able to delete/uninstall it, So the deactivation hook has already been run at some point in the past.

[jacobsantos]

The discussions with Ryan Boren (core developer, works for Automattic), I believe I discussed having the uninstall optional. Basically, the setup would be that you had a button to uninstall the plugin with the delete button.

The problem with this is that it was slightly confusing with its use case. It was decided and agreed that someone who is deleting a plugin most likely will want nothing to do with it again and therefore the plugin should clean up after itself. If the user decides it wants the information, they can either look at a backup of their database or reconfigure the plugin again at a later date.

I agree, that at least some users will want to at some point reinstall the plugin and be confused when they've lost all of their settings. However, if they wanted to at some point reactivate the plugin, they would have just kept it inactive until which point they wanted it again and reactivate it with their settings.

[jacobsantos]

Quite simple really, if you want people to keep their settings, have a setting in your plugin that lets you know they want to keep their settings.

[sc0ttkclark]

What if there was a checkbox labeled "Keep Plugin Data" on the Delete confirmation screen so that the user can decide if they want to keep the data. I understand that the terminology between Uninstall and Delete are confusing, and in most cases people would like to do both, so this would solve that issue and allow for users to keep that data.

However, I do understand that this discussion has already been brought up as per jacobsantos has explained, but I was hoping that the option explained in my above paragraph could be reviewed for inclusion. It can't "hurt", and it would default to "off" so that nothing changes in the delete routine unless the user decides to "opt-in".

That said, I won't push any further if the above option is reviewed and an executive decision is made that it is not for the good of WordPress users.

[jacobsantos]

I'll rather the user be able to choose whether or not the data was uninstalled.

[Denis-de-Bernardy]

such a hook is irrelevant, because it cannot be run if you delete the plugin using FTP.