Introduced two years ago via a proposal, the Plugin Check plugin has seen significant progress and refinements over time. Since its release in 2023, the plugin has been available in the repository and saw its first stable release earlier this year.
Also, it took a major step forward as the Plugin Review team plans to integrate it into the review process, marking an important milestone in its evolution. The team once again showcased the plugin, emphasizing its value and how it can benefit the community.
What is the Plugin Check Plugin?
In the initial proposal, Felix Arntz outlined the development of a tool similar to the Theme Check plugin, but specifically designed for plugins, “This post proposes defining and implementing a similar tool for WordPress plugins that analyzes a given WordPress plugin and flags any violations of plugin development requirements and best practices with errors or warnings. It should cover various aspects of plugin development, from basic requirements like correct usage of internationalization functions to accessibility, performance, and security best practices.”
David Perez further clarified the purpose of the tool and explained it as,” Plugin Check is a tool for testing whether your plugin meets the required standards for the WordPress.org plugin directory. With this plugin you will be able to run most of the checks used for new submissions, and check if your plugin meets the requirements.”
The Benefits of the Plugin Check Plugin
As of now, the plugin check plugin will benefit both first-time plugin developers as well as existing developers. For first-time plugin developers, as mentioned they can use this tool to find out issues and rectify them before submitting them for the review process.
David Perez also emphasized that the benefits of this plugin extend way beyond the submission stage which benefits the existing plugin developers,” In addition to things relevant for the review process, the tool flags violations or concerns around plugin development best practices, from basic requirements like correct usage of internationalization functions to accessibility, performance, and security best practices.”
The Future of Plugin Check Plugin
The next goal for the team, which has been discussed several times since the initial proposal, is to integrate it into the review process, “The plugins team is currently working on making it an integral part of the review process.”
The users can use this tool either by installing the plugin and checks can be run either via WordPress admin or WP-CLI. Users can also use a GitHub action if needed to run these checks against their plugins continuously. The development can be tracked on GitHub.
The team has highlighted that this plugin is not a replacement for the manual review process,” Plugin Check is not a replacement for the manual review process, but it will help you speed up the process of getting your plugin approved for the WordPress.org plugin repository, and it will also help you avoid some common mistakes.”