I've only came across one plugin that did this. It's really annoying when trying to find the settings page for the plugin where it could be anywhere. In configuration, In a configuration settings page, in Tools & Maintenance.
I think I've wasted 10 mins on finding the settings page for a few plugins. If you could get the settings page for a plugin when its activated, that would be much appreciated.
Problem with doing this is exactly as you explained. Plugin authors can place settings anywhere they wish and name them however they want and as such it's difficult to guess where settings for a specific setting may be.
Yeah, I agree. Some plugin author add links to plugins info, but most don't and few even insert them to places like General Configuration. Quite messy.
(2013-05-01, 05:38 PM)Euan T Wrote: [ -> ]Problem with doing this is exactly as you explained. Plugin authors can place settings anywhere they wish and name them however they want and as such it's difficult to guess where settings for a specific setting may be.
Damn. Well, Isn't there a hook that allows them to add the settings page? Isn't there a way to get what they have added to that hook or whatever?
Perhaps after they define the plugins name, author, etc they can also define the link to the page?
Not really. Settings are inserted manually using queries. You could define it in info, but it would add one query per plugin on the plugin listing page.
It's entirely up to the plugin authors...
It's already possible to link to settings, and as for organizing them, if you use PluginLibrary you get a dedicated setting group - which can be found easily without links. For example Google SEO only links to its main settings and only because they default to off, otherwise I wouldn't bother with setting links in the first place.
Linking also has downsides... I already received complaints for adding extra bits and pieces to the plugins page, some admins prefer it clean and tidy, well, you just can't make everyone happy...
It all depends on the use case. A plugin that is simple settings can go in the Settings list in an existing setting group that is most applicable, but if it has more than a few settings, then it would be worth having its won group.
But if the plugin is more complex that may or may not have simple settings, then it can be a new module, or a new sub menu item in the module that is most applicable (such as custom forum settings could be in the forum and announcements area).
Plugin authors could always store the gid (the id for the setting group) in the cache.
You can just link to the setting search directly... no need for the setting gid, provided your plugin / group name is sufficiently unique.
I've never thought of that. You learn something new every day.