The old warning that a plugin 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 has not been updated in 2+ years has been changed to an indication of what version of WordPress a plugin has been tested up to. If that version is more than 3 major releases old, a plugin will be flagged as being maybe out of date.
Why the change?
Two years was rather arbitrary, but also wasn’t helpful to as many people. That is, two years had little meaning, since there were many plugins that didn’t need updates.
In addition, developers failed to understand what we meant by the multiple emails (the ones we send every major release A set of releases or versions having the same major version number may be collectively referred to as “X.Y” -- for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, and all other versions in the 5.2. (five dot two dot) branch of that software. Major Releases often are the introduction of new major features and functionality.) asking them to bump the tested-up-to value, without releasing new code. By doing that, the 2-year warning would go away. With this change, developers have a clearer one-to-one understanding of why their plugin is showing up as ‘old’ and users can see that a plugin has or has not been tested with the version of WP they’re using.
What do I put in for ‘tested up to’ versions?
We recommend the MAJOR release. For example, WordPress is currently on version 4.9.4. If you put in 4.9, then it will show as compatible. Don’t use words like “WP 4.9” – just use the version number.
Can I put in 5.0 as a version?
Yes, but it won’t do what you think it does. That is, you won’t show as compatible with 4.9. Don’t try to be clever on that one.
Does this make more work for developers?
No. A year ago I would have said yes, but now that we’re not releasing new major releases of WordPress 3 times a year, it works out to needing to update plugins’ readmes every 18 months or so. That changes the time by roughly six months, depending on the status of projects.
Can we indicate version compatibility with other plugins?
You mean like bbPress Free, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org., WooCommerce, and so on? No. We recommend doing that within your plugin code.
Will this change the functionality of plugins?
No. This will neither alert your users nor will it disable your plugin within WordPress itself. You still have to handle that manually.
Is this a guideline change?
Nope. If you don’t want to update it ever, we don’t mind. The only reason we’d close a plugin for being ‘old’ is if it was broken or your email bounced.
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