Matt Mullenweg, the developer of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, has suggested a shift in WordPress development towards a plugin-first policy, meaning new features will primarily be introduced as plugins rather than being integrated into the core.
As a result of this new approach, some features that were intended for the next version of WordPress have been dropped entirely. Canonical plugins are seen as a way to enable faster improvements in WordPress.
However, some WordPress core contributors believe this shift may negatively impact user experience.
Canonical Plugins
First discussed in 2009, the concept of canonical plugins involves developing new features in plugin form. This approach aims to keep the WordPress core fast and lean, while allowing for the development of experimental features as plugins.
The original 2009 proposal described it as follows:
“Canonical plugins would be plugins that are community-developed (multiple developers, not just one person) and address the most popular functionality requests with superlative execution.
There would be a strong relationship between core and these plugins to ensure that a) the plugin code would be secure and the best possible example of coding standards, and b) new versions of WordPress would be tested against these plugins prior to release to ensure compatibility.”
This plugin-first strategy ensures that new features will first appear as plugins before being considered for integration into the WordPress core, once they have proven to be popular and essential.
The benefit of this approach is that it avoids burdening users with unnecessary features, aligning with the WordPress philosophy of "Decisions, Not Options," which aims to simplify user choices.
By utilizing plugins, users are not overwhelmed by unnecessary functionalities they do not need or understand. The WordPress design philosophy emphasizes making smart design decisions to avoid placing the burden of technical choices on users.
Canonical Plugins the Future?
Matt Mullenweg has articulated the case for moving forward with this plugin-first approach in his post titled "Canonical Plugins Revisited." He argues that WordPress core needs to be more selective about which features are integrated, using plugins to allow for faster development and release cycles.
“We are reaching a point where core needs to be more editorial and say ‘no’ to features coming in as ad hoc as they sometimes do, and my hope is that more Make teams use this as an opportunity to influence the future of WordPress through a plugin-first approach that gives them the luxury of faster development and release cycles (instead of three times per year), less review overhead, and a path to come into core if the plugin becomes a runaway success.”
The first major impact of this new approach is the cancellation of the planned integration of WebP image conversion in WordPress 6.1, initially scheduled for November 2022.
Plugin-First is Controversial
The decision to adopt a plugin-first development process has sparked debate. Core contributor Jon Brown, among others, has voiced concerns about the user-friendliness of relying heavily on plugins rather than core features.
“The problem remains that there are too many complicated plugins standing in for what would be a simple optional feature. Plugins are not a user-friendly option to core settings. First users have to discover there is a plugin, then they have to negotiate yet another settings screen and updates and maintenance of that plugin.”
Brown suggests that having a single canonical plugin would be better than multiple bloated plugins, but argues that integrating such functionality directly into core would be the ideal user experience.
Other contributors agree that including basic features within the core itself would reduce the maintenance burden and improve user experience.
There are also concerns about effectively capturing user feedback to improve these plugins, as many site owners may not report issues through appropriate channels.
The Road Ahead
WordPress development is evolving to enable faster improvements through canonical plugins. However, comments from core contributors indicate that there are still many unresolved questions about how well this system will work for users. The future success of this approach may hinge on how well it addresses the current user experience and feedback concerns.
Featured image by Shutterstock/Studio Romantic
