Title: Plugin Installation
Last modified: August 18, 2016

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# Plugin Installation

 *  [weimer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/weimer/)
 * (@weimer)
 * [21 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-installation/)
 * Hi,
    IMHO, the plugin installation scheme currently ins use is a bad thing ™.
   Nearly every plugin I wanted to try is distributed as an .phps file on the server
   of the supplier. I must copy the whole code into a new file which often simply
   doesn’t work because of encoding errors and which is highly dependent on the 
   used browser/editor combo. I would really love to see a plugin installation which
   is as easy as the worpdress installation. Maybe something like the mambo zip-
   files is of any use? What do you think about it? Am I missing something essential?
   Best regards, Markus

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [fuchs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fuchs/)
 * (@fuchs)
 * [21 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-installation/#post-100043)
 * I agree. Plugin developers should offer their plugins as a ZIP archive including
   the plugin file and the documentation. In addition, plugins shouldn’t require
   any change of the source code or the manual creation of DB tables; the plugin
   should just work after activation and installation.
 *  Thread Starter [weimer](https://wordpress.org/support/users/weimer/)
 * (@weimer)
 * [21 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-installation/#post-100059)
 * What makes it even worse is the poor quality of the plugins. I tried every available
   image gallery plugin, but none worked for me. Maybe there should be a central
   repository -like the one at [http://www.unknowngenius.com/wp-plugins/](http://www.unknowngenius.com/wp-plugins/).
   But the author of this one is the author of one disfunctional gallery scripts
   as well 😉
 *  [Mark (podz)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/podz/)
 * (@podz)
 * [21 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-installation/#post-100061)
 * A ‘central repository’ or similar is in the pipeline.
    With plugins, it may be
   fairer to the authors of these to say they did not suit your purpose. After all,
   satisfied customers are generally quieter than the not satisfied, and it’s not
   like any of the plugins require any payment. As for not requiring any changes
   to source code, index.php is source code too. Plugins are added features and 
   while it can be daunting to open and edit a file you’ve not used before, if you
   want it, then it has to be done. Regarding presentation, yes people sometimes
   post here with errors due to copying a .phps file incorrectly, but again don’t
   forget that the plugin developer has given their time and skills freely. To then
   package a file and write docs takes even more of their time. If you go here –
   [http://wordlog.com/archives/2004/09/24/link-click-counter/](http://wordlog.com/archives/2004/09/24/link-click-counter/)–
   you will see that Ozh states it took nearly as long to write about the plugin
   that it took to create. While I don’t think we should blindly accept without 
   criticism, I do think that we ought to be constructive when talking about anything
   where people give their own time for the benefit of others.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘Plugin Installation’ is closed to new replies.

 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Mark (podz)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/podz/)
 * Last activity: [21 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-installation/#post-100061)
 * Status: not resolved

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