Wordpress New Plugin Issues

Question

I have created a wordpress plugin from scratch. When I check other plugins in Wordpress admin. If there is any update in Plugins installed page, I can see a message Say, for e.g Contact Form - I am right now getting a message

There is a new version of Contact Form 7 available. View version 3.7.2 details or update now.

What will I have to do so that people come to know any new version of my plugin is available. What will be case If the plugin is free and also incase it is paid.

One last question How do add the feature to check for wordpress compatibility of the plugin. Since I have programmed it to work on Wordpress version 3.8.1. How can I be sure that the plugin will also work on lower versions of wordpress 3.8.1. Is installing it on every wordpress version and testing the plugin the only way to know. Or is there any simple approach to know the plugin will be compatible.

Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

At first, you have to develop the plugin by following the WordPress standard coding guide lines and then you have to submit the plugin to WordPress Plugin Directory and if your plugin get approved then you have to keep it in the WordPress plugin repository. There are several steps for doing this, so you should follow the steps, at first begin from Writing a Plugin.

You also have to be familiar with Subversion (SVN) and ael these takes quite a time to complete the complete process from developing to submitting till approval of your plugin. Also, remember that, the community/team who check plugins submitted by plugin authors are professionals and it could be possible that your plugin might be rejected if the plugin doesn't match the criterion of the standard WordPress plugin, such as licensing, coding style etc.

You may also check this link for useful resources about writing a plugin. It may sounds scary but it's not impossible and very easy, just follow the instructions and keep going on.

If your plugin finally get approved and saved in the plugin repository by you then every time you update your plugin source, it'll be visible in the admin panel of a user who is using your plugin but there are some process related with it, you should keep reading and you'll get the idea. It's not possible describe everything here, it's too broad. Everything you need about plugin development, the first place is the Codex to look information for.