Community Feedback
1. Can’t find how to publish update
“Hello, after my plugin passed the review, how do I public new release? I can’t find the button of it.” Plugin actions include only Update details, Show details and Unpublish.
Current solution workaround: this means you don’t have the plugin installed locally (the dev version). You need to hit + and import the plugin from manifest. Then you will be able to publish new release.
Turns out the problem was slightly different:
“Finally I found the reason why I can’t public new release. Because my plugin id was changed, though I don’t know why.”
So it’s hard to find not only when your plugin doesn’t have a local installation, it also is confusing when the local version doesn’t get associated with the published version in the list because it’s broken in some other way. As a result you have two plugin installations: one of the non-published dev-only local version, the other one is published but not associated with a local version so you can’t publish.
“I also had trouble finding the publish option, since it vanished until I added the
editorTypeinto the manifest”
2. Can’t uninstall local development version
“How can I remove my plugins in development? I can’t find them in development plugins list.”
Current solution workaround: You can remove them by renaming the folder with the manifest or moving it. Then the dev version will be displayed as a separate plugin with lost manifest and you will be able to remove it.
3. Have to scroll too long to publish an update
The foldable list of Installed plugins definitely makes it easier but not ideal. Folding and unfolding these lists is too much of a hassle and scrolling the long list of installed plugins is inconvenient too.
My idea is to have two tabs: one for development plugins and one for installed ones, but not everyone agrees that it would be better. Another option is to use two columns — that would be ideal in my view but the current UI won’t fit two columns. A compromise alternative can be adding tabs (or top/bottom nav) to quickly switch between two sections but still keep the full list scrollable and foldable.
Proposals
I don’t have a concrete proposal to solve all these problems yet. If the current structure of the list stays the same, here is how the list items (plugins) can be improved:
-
I think the most common action with the plugin is “update” and it opens the modal so it’s non-destructive, it would be nice to expose this action without having to go to the menu.
-
It would also be nice to make clear if the plugin is installed locally or not. Therefore I added the always-present path to manifest. Even if the plugin is published, it would still show the manifest path. That would make it clear when the plugin is not installed locally: instead of the path it would show the text that says “not installed locally” or something like that.
-
That would make it clear why the update button doesn’t work: upon clicking the or hovering the “update” button, you will be prompted to locate the manifest.json on your system.
Got ideas?
I’d be happy to hear your ideas and feedback about my concepts! You can see my research and add your ideas in this file: https://figma.fun/dDWaLu (editable for everyone)