Discussion on Replacing Plugin Active Install Growth Data Continues Behind Closed Doors
Earlier this month WordPress.org meta contributors removed the active install growth chart from plugins, sending plugin developers who relied on this data into a state of dismay and outrage. The commit cited “insufficient data obfuscation” but there was no clear communication about when and where this decision had been made. Developers demanded more transparency around the charts’ removal but received no clear answers. Multiple opportunities to communicate the details behind the decision were deliberately forgone, as speculation mounted. Several contributors not directly involved in the conversations prematurely insisted it was removed due to a security or privacy concern, but Samuel Otto Wood has unequivocally confirmed that it was neither of these things. In a recent appearance on the WPwatercooler podcast, Wood elaborated on the decision, which he says was made in May through private channels via Slack DMs in a discussion initiated by Matt Mullenweg. “The reason is really quite simple,” Wood said. “It was removed because by and large, nobody was using them. Nobody was using the chart itself. By and large, the chart was not useful to the majority, and it didn’t really fit the purpose we had for it, that we had in mind when we implemented it.”…
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