In November 2023, pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party authors could add a preview feature powered by WordPress Playground that allowed both developers to offer an early, customized look at their plugin and enable users to explore before downloading. At this stage, the MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. team is seeking input from plugin developers to enhance the power and value of this new option, enabling more people to adopt it and addressing the needs of current users.

Call for feedback and next steps

The Meta team would like to hear from developers!

• Were there challenges in creating your plugin’s Blueprint?
• What creative ways are developers using Previews to onboard their users?
• What new Blueprint features would you like to see in the future?
• What would convince you to provide a Blueprint for your plugin if you’ve decided not to do that?

Please provide your suggestions, ideas and questions in the comments on this post before Monday, May 6. If there are critical blockers, feel free to pose issues in the #meta-playground channel on Make SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. 

Background

If you’ll recall, the opt-in experience for the Plugin directory’s Preview button soft-launched in November 2023. The Preview button allows plugin developers to enable users to launch a demo WordPress site with their plugin (and possibly other configurations) enabled, which empowers users to trial the plugin before installing. The Preview button utilizes WordPress Playground’s Blueprints feature to pass a blueprint.json file with configuration options.

If this all sounds foreign and new, do not fret. A new Plugin Handbook resource was recently added to help developers get started with Previews and Blueprints.

For developers who are already exploring and utilizing the Preview button feature, there is also a new page on the Plugin Directory for you to browse Preview-enabled Plugins.

Props to @bph, @annezazu, and @zieladam for reviewing this post and providing feedback, and @webdevmattcrom @annezazu, @tellyworth for the idea.

+https://make.wordpress.org/plugins/

#meta-playground, #plugin-directory