* plugin version / update date

[BillH]

I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but I'm having a hard time keeping track of whether or not I have the latest version of a plugin or not.

Here are a couple of examples.

Change Any Fact Tag

Plugin store says the latest is Version 2.1 last updated on 1 Oct 2011.  When I download and install it, it shows as being last updated September 2011.

Map Life Events

Plugin store says the latest is Version 1.1 last updated on 8 Nov 2011.  When I download and install it, it shows as being last updated July 2011.

These are just two examples, there are more like this.

I guess my first thought is that maybe plugin authors need to be more diligent in keeping the plugin and the plugin store in sync with each other.

Sometimes a plugin is updated more than once in a month.  Could the Last Updated date in the script header be changed to also include the day?  Now it only shows the month and the year.

If that can't be done, could the Tools / Plugins window be changed to also display the version number of the plugin that is installed.  This might be a good idea even if the date can be put into the script header.

Another thing that would help would be if we had a way to sort the plugins by last update date when using the browse plugin option in the plugin store.

Plugins are a great addition to FH 5 and I really appreciate the work people have gone to to create them for us.  I anticipate that when this is open to everyone we will see even more plugins in the store.  

These changes would make it so much easier to keep our plugins up to date.

Thanks,

Bill

ID:5668

[tatewise]

You are correct Bill the Plugin authors need to take a bit more care, myself included.

In mitigation, the discrepancy between the Script Header Last Updated date and the Plugin Store Updated date is explained as follows.
The former is when the author last edited/changed the Plugin script.
The latter is when the Plugin was approved in the Plugin Store and this can take a few hours or a few days from when it was submitted by the author.

However, the following improvements by authors would help.
(1)
Ensure the Plugin Store Title, the Plugin Filename, and the Script Header Title are all the same.
(2)
Include the Version number in the Script Header Title for the time being.
In future a Script Header Version could be added to the FH Plugins window.
(3)
If any Plugin windows are displayed when run, then include the Plugin Title and Version in the window title bar.
(4)
Try and set the Script Header Last Updated date to predict the Plugin Store Updated date.

[BillH]

Mike,

Thanks for the reply. That does make setting the date kind of problematic.

I think if Tools / Plugins displayed the version number (and if plugin authors reliably update the version number every time they make an update) that would take care of it.

Thanks!

Bill

[Jane]

I have repeated the suggestions in the Beta forum, but I don't know if Simon will be able to shoehorn them into 5.

http://www.fhug.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cg ... 72&start=0

[BillH]

Thanks Jane.

Bill

[BillH]

First of all I want to thank everyone that has written plugins. They are really helpful and we are all appreciative.

However, not to beat this to death, but the last update date is still not being set by plugin authors.

For example:

Address Reformating - plugin site says it was last updated on 13 Feb 2012 while the plugin itself says 11 Feb 2012 (actually it says 11/02/2012 which would be better spelled out so it isn't confusing to us US users)

Ancestral Sources Data Entry - plugin site says it was last updated on 12 Feb 2012 while the plugin itself says 16 Jan 2012

Change Any Fact Tag - plugin site says it was last updated on 12 Feb 2012 while the plugin itself says it was last updated on 16 Jan 2012

etc.

Please try to keep these and the version numbers updated. Is there any way to automatically update the last updated date in the plugin to match the date on the web site during the upload process?

Thanks,

Bill

[Jane]

The date on the site is the date the plugin was uploaded to the store, and not always the date that the plugin was last worked on. You can always see the date of the current plugin on the store by using the view source option.

You may find it easier to use the Version numbers which are being updated pretty consistently to check if you have the latest version.

[BillH]

Jane,

Are you saying these plugins were actually updated on 16 Jan and not uploaded until 12 Feb?

Actually the version number doesn't seem to be getting updated with any regularity either.

Ancestral Sources Data Entry - the one updated on 12 Feb 2012 was version 1.7 and so was the previous one

Change Any Fact Tag - the one updated on 12 Feb 2012 was version 2.2 and so was the previous one

There are other others as well.

Often people seem to be updating the plugins without changing the version number.

I'll drop this issue, it doesn't seem to be of importance to anyone but me. However, from a user perspective, it would be a lot less confusing if the website last update date and version number matched what showed up under Tools > Plugins.

Bill

[tatewise]

I'll own up to the situation with Ancestral Sources Data Entry and Change Any Fact Tag.

The Plugin code for these two has not changed.

What I did was edit the Plugin Store entry to include a screen-shot of the Plugin User Interface window.

This altered the updated date, but the Plugin itself has not changed version.

Sorry for any confusion.

[PeterR]

I believe I followed the correct procedure yesterday (15 Feb 2012) when I updated my Plugin Address Reformatting from Version 1.1 to Version 1.2.

The Plugin Store now shows in the Recent Plugins list:

Address Reformatting V1.1 (15 Feb 2012)

If I download and install this version, it displays in the FH Plugins dialog as 'Version 1.2'.

[Jane]

1.1 was still in the version field on the database entry. I have changed it for you.