Common plugin folder across WP installations

  • Keith

    (@keithkhl)


    1 year, 10 months ago

    I have 4 WP installations in my local server and I wonder if it does not interfere WP’s operation, if I symlink plugin folders to a common destination folder.

    I’ve tested with uploads and local gravatars folders, both of which worked without any trouble. I am aware of the fact that it creates more dependency, but was not a big deal.

    What I am concerned about plugins case is that each plugin may modify files depending on the WP settings. If all settings are not stored in plugin files but in DB’s options table, I think sharing can work.

    If some plugin files are indeed updated by everyday use of WP, I guess symlink not at /plugins/ folder level, but for individual plugin level should be an alternative.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Thread Starter Keith

    (@keithkhl)

    1 year, 10 months ago

    I have had a bunch of multisites for a long time, but recently replaced the needs to domain mapping to alias/parked domains w/ redirection. I further want to minimize maintenance requirement. If shared plugin folder idea works, an update to a plugin should be applied across all WP installations.

    Moderator threadi

    (@threadi)

    1 year, 10 months ago

    In itself, this should work. Theoretically, plugins should not write to their own directory. This is because every time the plugins are updated, their directory is removed and overwritten with the update. As a result, such individual customisations would be lost.

    I have written ‘theoretically’. Unfortunately, there are also badly programmed plugins that do this. Therefore, your project depends very much on which plugins you use.

    The only problem I see is updating the plugins. The update routine only runs in the one WP in which you initiate the update. The routine often (not always) also includes the adjustment of data and settings in the database, some plugins also create additional files in the wp-content directory directly or in uploads. These would then only be in one WP and not in the others. Theoretically (yes, I’m saying it again), the plugins should check themselves in which version they are running and then carry out such updates in the respective installations independently. But not every plugin developer does this. This therefore harbours a certain risk.

    It might be easier for you to work with a tool like ManageWP: https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/worker/

    Thread Starter Keith

    (@keithkhl)

    1 year, 10 months ago

    Thank you for the detailed cases. @threadi

    Just a quick thought. If that ‘update’ creates additional files but is not shared across sites due to plugin author’s negligence, how does the multisite handle plugins?

    Say, I have a plugin that is activated by N(>2) subsites, but the update is mostly handled at Network admin level, but sometimes executed by the main site. I think the situation shouldn’t be that different from my imaginary case, unless there is an extra step in multisite that deals with such potential malfunction.

    Moderator threadi

    (@threadi)

    1 year, 10 months ago

    With a multisite, WordPress goes through each individual subsite during an update, as it knows them, and carries out the update routines there. In your case, WordPress knows nothing about this.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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