Plugin Directory: enforce change levels - major, minor, fix

[galbaras]

Plugin developers seem to have their own ideas of numbering releases and often introduce functionality changes into mostly-bug-fixing ones. This makes it harder to judge whether an update should be applied or bypassed.

N.0.0 should be used for major releases or significant code overhauls. Specifically, this should apply to anything requiring other components (themes, addon plugins) to be adjusted.

N.M.0 should be used for minor changes to the way the plugin functions. This can be the addition of actions and filters, changes to plugin admin screens and functional additions that do not change anything already being used.

N.M.X should be used for bug fixes and security updates only. It should be a no-brainer to apply them, because they are most likely to make things better without breaking anything.

It's unlikely that the plugin directory can prevent developers from doing the wrong thing, but it should at least guide them, and perhaps require an x.y.z version format and automatically label that version as a major, minor or fix to guide users as well.

I've never submitted a plugin, so this clearly needs clarification, but as someone who manages WordPress websites, a good version scheme will help me a great deal. It should also help plugin developers streamline their releases.

[Otto42]

While we encourage the use of semantic versioning by plugins, we don't enforce it. Plugin authors and other projects are free to use the versioning system that they find works best for them.

[galbaras]

I know that's the case now, but in the spirit of Tide, maybe it's also time to improve how plugins are served and documented?