Title: Shiny Updates in 4.6 Author: Pascal Birchler Published: July 6, 2016 --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/) [Pascal Birchler](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/) 9:19 pm _on_ July 6, 2016 Tags: [4.6 ( 140 )](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/4-6/), [dev-notes ( 647 )](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/dev-notes/), [shiny-updates ( 19 )](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/shiny-updates/) # Shiny Updates in 4.6 After being [approved for a partial merge](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/06/13/shiny-updates-v2-partial-merge-approved/), Shiny Updates V2 was added to WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. in [[37714]](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/37714). Thanks to that change, updating as well as installing and deleting plugins and themes has become much easier for users. With the exception of the `wp-admin/update-core. php` screen, those actions are now all performed via AJAX, avoiding what we internally called _The Bleak Screen of Sadness_. ### Visual Changes If you wanna see Shiny Updates in action, check out the merge proposal post which contains screenshots and a video. > [Proposal: More Shiny Updates](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/06/02/proposal-more-shiny-updates/) One big user facing change is about search: There is now an AJAX search on both the Installed Plugins screen as well as the Add New 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/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. screen, this means the search results change as you type, drastically simplifying your workflow. ### Under The Hood The JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. [https://www.javascript.com](https://www.javascript.com/) responsible for shiny updates (enqueued via the `'updates'` handle) has been completely revamped to improve the UXUX User experience across the board by displaying better progress updates and error messages. If you’re in any way relying on this JavaScript, you will notice that `wp.updates. update()` has been renamed to `wp.updates.updatePlugin()`. The same goes for the plugin update success / error callbacks. In addition to that, callbacks are now passed as arguments to the `wp.updates.updatePlugin()`,` wp.updates.updateTheme()` and the like, e.g. `wp.updates.updatePlugin( { success: wp.updates.updatePluginSuccess, … } )`. The whole code is [thoroughly documented](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/trunk/src/wp-admin/js/updates.js?rev=37987). However, you probably won’t ever need to call these functions directly. Instead, you might wanna hook into the custom jQuery events that are being triggered throughout the code, like `'wp-plugin-install-success'`. ### Shiny Updates V3 While the last iteration of Shiny Updates has been merged into core, development of the plugin continues to happen on [GitHub](https://github.com/obenland/shiny-updates). If you’re running the [Shiny Updates feature plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/shiny-updates/) on your site, everything will continue to work when using 4.6. The current version of the plugin now only contains things that didn’t make it into 4.6 and is our base for further development. Feel free to keep it running and provide feedback! [#4-6](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/4-6/), [#dev-notes](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/dev-notes/), [#shiny-updates](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/shiny-updates/) ### Share this: * [ Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=threads) * [ Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=mastodon) * [ Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=bluesky) * [ X ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=x) * [ Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=facebook) * [ LinkedIn ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/shiny-updates-in-4-6/?share=linkedin) 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27180c82524020e7339e2b30818b6d8ab004c54f730f12b1434b1e365be0e175? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 2. [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/) 12:28 am _on_ July 7, 2016 3. > There is now an AJAX search on both the Installed Plugins screen as well as the > Add New 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/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) > or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. screen 4. :SNIFFsniff A module for [PHP Code Sniffer](https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer) that analyzes code for a specific problem. Multiple stiffs are combined to create a PHPCS standard. The term is named because it detects [code smells](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_smell), similar to how a dog would "sniff" out food.: You guys. This is so awesome! I love it so much. Comments are closed. # Post navigation [← Weekly Dev Chat Agenda for July 6 — Eleven Weeks Later](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/weekly-dev-chat-agenda-for-july-6-%f0%9f%8d%a9/) [Multisite Office Hours Recap (July 5, 2016) →](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2016/07/06/multisite-office-hours-recap-july-5-2016/)