Allow content to be be added to a plugin's 'Developers' page via readme.txt

[lumpysimon]

Would it be possible to allow plugin authors to add content to the 'Developers' page of the plugin directory via readme.txt?

Currently, if I want to find out things like which actions or filters a plugin provides, the handles of scripts and styles it enqueues, or the arguments for a function, often my only option is to search the source code, or in some cases go to the documentation on the author's website.

If listing these kind of advanced details on the Developers page became standard practice, it would essentially become a mini-Codex for each plugin, the first place other developers would check when they need to use a function, find a filter name, unenqueue styles, extend a class, etc. Plugin authors could also put any other useful information here, such as a link to the plugin's GitHub repo.

Currently, the only place to put this information is in the FAQ, but this is confusing for non-technical end users - being able to use the Developers page would allow the two types of information to be kept separate for the two different audiences.

The sections currently shown on this page (Subscribe, Browse the code, Current version) would all be kept, but moved down below this information.

If the author already has this kind of documentation somewhere, they would just put a link on this page.

[samuelsidler]

It might be reasonable to give plugin authors a link – and only one link – on the Developers tab in the context of a sentence. For example, "Go here for more developer information." as a full-sentence link. That could either be inserted on the /admin/ page or via the readme, we'd have to decide.

The idea of a "mini-Codex" isn't one we want to encourage on the Developers tab. I can possibly foresee a time in the (distant) future where we bring the benefits of devhub to all plugins, but that's far, far off (if at all). If that happens, we'd want to link to it on the Developers tab.

Either option or path... this is maybelater. :)

[lukecavanagh]

Since more end-users would be used to looking at code on GitHub as well as being able to search for certain functions from that repo, would it not be possible to add in a GitHub link, if there was one present in the readme.txt.

Example
​https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/pods/trunk/readme.txt#L570

[lukecavanagh]

Interested in Development GitHub Link Example

[SergeyBiryukov]

Related: #3880, #3937.