Starting today AdRotate Banner Manager (and my other plugins) is officially available through hub2wp. An alternative source for WordPress plugins. Hub2wp is not so much an repository, but a way of finding plugins on Github. Github is a website where you can host and store your software projects. A LOT of WordPress developers and plugin makers use it as their defacto platform. Most of my free to use plugins are on Github as well. They probably were already visible through Hub2wp, but from today on I’ll make sure of that by adding the correct tags and data to stay available through it.
If you’re not familiar with Hub2wp and what it can do for you or your plugins, check it out here: hub2wp on Github
And a direct link to my plugins on it: hub2wp search: adegans
Other repositories and ways to get AdRotate Banner Manager
I’ve also recently set up an account on therepo.org and added AdRotate Banner Manager to it.
The system seems a bit barebones and clunky, but it too looks on Github for new versions and downloads work fine.
Along the way I also found that AspirePress has a repository mirror as well that already lists AdRotate Banner Manager, so that’s cool too. From my understanding they get their data from wordpress.org and have a way to redirect requests from that to their own database.
And, of-course, you can download my plugins directly from my Github account, here https://github.com/adegans/.
Each plugin has a ‘Release’ section where you can download the relevant latest version, which you then upload through your dashboard. I have an installation guide here. But, hub2wp is easier!
Why use alternative repositories and sources?
My main reason is to simply increase exposure for my work. The more people see my plugins, the more people can improve their websites using my software. Part of that is financially motivated of-course – I still need to pay rent and eat. But really, user numbers go up and that pleases me.
Another reason, and this is a bit more personal, is with how wp.org and me become more and more out-of-sync in terms of how things should work. In that regard I believe, Automattic lost their way years ago and I’ve never been remotely happy with where they’re going. Overbearing forum moderation policies and increasing restrictions for everything else. Plus the occasional argument with core-devs, most of it resulting in them “winning” the argument by threatening account actions or outright blocks on social media leaves a sour taste every time. It’s not fun being a WordPress developer who is not thinking or doing things the way that they demand.
And, finally, with how they’re hell-bent on turning WordPress from the best CMS in the history of the internet into the worst. In part with the Block Editor and how themes work, but mostly with how reliant we’re forced to be on their cloud services. Taking back a tiny bit of freedom and choice by getting plugins elsewhere is a small stap towards fixing that.
So if you haven’t already, check out hub2wp. Even if you’re a casual WordPress user. You might find plugins not available elsewhere and installing them suddenly becomes very easy!
