[Qgis-developer] The new QGIS plugin repo

[Andreas Neumann]

>> - should we require all plugins to be within this SVN repository or
>> allow 'external' ones?
>
> My position is: this repo should be the standard, embedded in QGIS, but
> the user
> should be allowed to add any additional repo by hand.
> I may be wrong, of course.

yes, there should be an option to add your own repository, just as it is
currently the case. Often there are "inhouse" plugins (like a search or
database metadata plugin) that is not of interest to the general public
because it is tied to a certain infrastructure, or may even contain/or
allow access to confidential information. These "inhouse" plugins should
still be allowed to be distributed through an inhouse plugin repository as
it is currently the case.

>> - how to deal with official/contributed plugins?
>
> To me this distinction does not make much sense: I see core plugins (in
> trunk) and
> additional plugins (in the separate svn). Among the additional there will
> be all sort
> of nuances, from the very strong but of limited use to the
> proof-of-concept.

It would be good if there could be some sort of quality assurance for
plugins in the general, publically available repository. Not only because
it may be bad press for QGIS if there are "too experimental" or "poor
quality" plugins in the official repository, but also because it may help
the user to see what plugins are popular and commonly used.

Another issue is a minimum of documentation. This is a draw-back of the
current system or situation. Often you install a plugin and you have no
idea what it does. Just the name and the one-line description is not good
enough. And often you don't know where the plugin ends up in the UI. Which
is fine, if there is a quick intro.

People need to know:

* where is the UI of the plugin (menu location, toolbar, extensions of
existing dialogues)
* what the plugin really does. Sometimes, a one-line description is good
enough, but quite often it is not
* status of the plugin: experimental, production
* a way to point to a website of the plugin (URL) for further information
* who is the author: person, organization
* are there support options specifically for the plugin?
* additional documentation on the behavior of the plugin
* maybe a way for users to comment/rate the plugin (only for registered
users, to avoid spam)
* a way to report bugs, feature requests on a plugin (trac?)
* maybe a way to show HTML documentation/screenshots of the plugin in
action in the plugin installer before installation of the plugin to inform
the user if it is worth to install the plugin or not. One could embed
qtwebkit for this purpose into the plugin installer
* date metadata: when was the plugin released and last updated

Just my opinions or expectations on a new plugin repo and, maybe related,
an improved version of the installer. I think the current installer is
very nice, but if the repo adds additional functionality it may have to be
enhanced.

All the best,
Andreas

-- 
Andreas Neumann
http://www.carto.net/neumann/
http://www.svgopen.org/