General plugin question

General Discussion
1

Questions about plugins.

As a simple non-IT guy i try to understand all the changes that affects me due to the upcoming Wordpress changes to Gutenberg.
I just have one weblog with 19 plugins attached.
They are all started their lives before 4.9. That means they are now up to date.
But what happened with these plugins after 2022?
And when I make the switch over to CP? I just look at all the plugins; 73 in total.
Can I find comparable under the 73 CP plugins? If not? What to do?

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2

There might just be 73 plugins listed in the ClassicPress directory, but you will still be able to use other plugins if they say they will work with WP version 4.9 or below.

If that still leaves you with a “gap,” then let us know and maybe someone will either suggest an alternative or create a new plugin (perhaps a fork).

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3

Thank you for your supporting answer. But I just wonder what Wordpress will do with also the plugins 4.9 and earlier. Are they planning to delete them all? Or are they telling CP: We leave them for you. Just thinking!

4

They will not delete. Many plugins do work for both 5.x and 4.9 series.
And there are users who will maintain their site at 4.9.
What will happen is plugins will be introducing more and more changes to align to the latest WP releases, and at a certain time they won’t work anymore.
In that case you can:

  • keep the plugin at an older version that works with your site (downside of that is the fact that in time that plugin is going to become a vulnerability for your site since it doesn’t receive security updates)
  • you can fork the plugin/ask someone to fork it for you and maintain it (that is a better solution than not updating it)
  • you can select another plugin, given the fact that for every feature you may need there are hundreds of plugins.
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5

WordPress doesn’t control plugins. What happens to each one is for the plugin developer(s) to decide.

6

Maybe? But will the Wordpress change to Gutenberg does it? How much of the Gutenberg system might needs the plugins?

7

Plugins are developed independently from core (and sometimes even disable parts of core) so it’s impossible to provide one answer for all plugins. Some will become tied to Gutenberg; others will not.

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