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The next version of the WordPress Plugin Boilerplate is officially tagged and available for download in GitHub.

This release – although a minor improvement over the last – introduces several improvements to 2.6.0, and also marks a change in the development of the project, as well as the introduction of several things that will be coming to the Boilerplate in the next several versions.

WordPress Plugin Boilerplate 2.6.1

Ultimately, this release can be broken down into two parts:

  1. Improvements and fixes over the last version of the Boilerplate
  2. A more concerted effort to improve development, releases, and create a more solid roadmap
The WordPress Plugin Boilerplate

The WordPress Plugin Boilerplate

This particular release doesn’t include as many features and updates as the last release, but there are notable changes, fixes, and contributions, nonetheless.

The ChangeLog

  • Updating the localization functions to that `load_textdomain` is called.
  • Removing call to `plugin_textdomain`
  • Changing ‘decomment’ to ‘uncomment’
  • Changing all ‘TODO’ to ‘@TODO’ for wider IDE support
  • Removed the trailing slash (@jameswlane)
  • Extended and aligned comment header (@franz-josef-kaiser)
  • Update `class-plugin-name-admin.php` (@rockaut)
  • Replaced deleted comment block (@akshayraje)
  • Updated `plugin-name.php` to get all name replacement changes at one place (@akshayraje)
  • Fix textdomain not loading (@neverything)
  • Fix `$plugin_basename` to allow plugin_action_links (@neverything)

As I said, the number of changes are relatively low in comparison to the last release, but the rest of the contributors and I are working to roadmap out the next several versions, as well as plan for better ways to continue making the Boilerplate as solid as possible.

An Official Web Site

Although you can see everything that we’re planning within the milestones on GitHub, one of the most important things that I want to mention is that we’ve begun work on an official project page for the Boilerplate.

Inspired by the Underscores.me page, we’re going to be featuring everyone who contributes to the project, we’re going to be implementing a form that allows you to download a customized version of the Boilerplate, and we’re going to be added several other features such as FAQs, better documentation, and perhaps even a blog.

Not all of this will be done at once, of course, but we’re getting started and should have a page available in time for the next release.

A special thanks to Alex Mansfield for stepping up and helping with the site and some of the cooler features we’ll be implementing on the backend.

What’s Up Next?

Right now, we have a tentative list of issues that will be resolved in the next version, and it will be updated throughout the next few days.

If you download the Boilerplate, use it, and find bugs with it, don’t hesitate to open an issue with it. Furthermore, if you have questions about how to actually use the Boilerplate, don’t hesitate to let me know.

As we begin working on the upcoming page (and potential blog) for the Boilerplate, it would be helpful to have feedback from the community who is using this in their day-to-day (or, well, month-to-month) work.

Lastly, thanks to all 29 contributors who have helped continue to make the Boilerplate as solid as possible. It really is a community effort at this point, and I couldn’t be happier with the people who are helping to further develop the project.