Plugins Abandoned by Authors

I'm getting more than a little upset by people who write plugins and then disappear into thin air. If you're a plugin author, then please take time to either remove your plugin if you can no longer support it, or turn it over to someone else to manage.

I'm especially disgusted with the author of the higher walls plugin. He made a big deal of his plugin, even creating a blog on it. But he has not been around since early 2009. Attepmts to add to the blog are unsuccessful as are comments on it here.The plugin works, perhaps too well! After installing it, no one can register as it requires all visitors to be logged in register! Looks impossible to me.

If any one has any experience with this Higher Walls plugin, I'd appreciate some contact. I need to get this fixed if possible.

  • This comes up in every open source community. It is just a fact that developers come and go. Many plugins are written by people just like you who may have a need and learn just enough PHP to write a plugin. The important plugins will eventually get picked up by other developers. This state of affairs is never going to change.

    Now what can change is the plugin repository. Being able to sort by supported version, latest update, most downloads, most recommended should provide enough options to find the good plugins that are still being updated. The plugin repository doesn't do all of these yet...

  • @Cash,  it sure does,  I made just about the same suggestions for 'sorting' the plug-ins as well.   I also offered that an entry could be made as to what version of Elgg the 'plug-in' has been modified to work with.

    I'd also like to see, 'forgotten' plug-ins declared, 'public domain' so that someone could pick it up, and actually do something beneficial with it.

     

  • Hi Edward, so far as I know, all plugins in the repository must have open source licenses so any of them can be forked and redeveloped by someone else.

    The danger is that the plugin developer might eventually re-emerge and release a new version and then there would be two incompatible releases. But forking is definitely a solution if the developer has permanently disappeared.

  • I'm trying to develop a new version of the Group Contact List plugin. If I finish it, how should I upload it? I cannot upload a new version in the original programmer's plugin page.

  • @Salva - Upload it as a new plugin.  At some point we might add a feature to the plugins plugin that allows project ownership transfers or at least listing related or forked projects, but there are plenty of bugs to squash before that...