[FR] Consider adding the plugin into to the official Obsidian community plugins catalog

[mnaoumov]

This way it's easier to keep track of plugin updates without BRAT

[Frost-VT]

Why hasn't this been added to the official Community Plugins catalog yet? :o

If there isn't a reason, I can make a temporary Community Plugin pointed to an identical fork uploaded for this (with a link in the description that points to this repo)

That way, people can simply install it from the Community Plugins tab.

[mnaoumov]

Such fork won't pass Obsidian team review

[pjeby]

Honestly I'm not sure the original would pass, either! As per the README:

It's not registered as a standard community plugin for downloading or updating within Obsidian, because it's intended for developer use only, and because it can enable other plugins.

I thought I'd already replied with this point earlier; sorry about overlooking the issue till now.

[Frost-VT]

Apologies! I just saw the specific line you wrote right before I checked this notif.
I believe in the current Obsidian rules, we can still post this developer use plugin if I understand this correctly:

https://docs.obsidian.md/Developer+policies
In the "Disclosures" section:
"Accessing files outside of Obsidian vaults. Clearly explain why this is needed."

As long as we can make a case that it's a developer-only plugin (that there are many of in Obsidian, including those that can run JS or TS functions that could potentially also enable/disable other plugins), we can put it on there with, what I think would be no issue!

I believe @mnaoumov is quite experienced with Obsidian dev plugins, and may have some insight to offer on this.

[pjeby]

I would be interested to hear what the rationale for listing it in the official directory is, given that you can just git clone it as a subdirectory of .obsidian/plugins and it's ready to go. (If you're doing development you need to be able to use git anyway.)

My main concerns are that 1) I'd rather not use the (apparently very scarce) reviewing resources of the Obsidian team for something that doesn't seem remotely necessary, and 2) I don't think I want to provide support to users who can't use git well enough to install the plugin. Given these concerns, I'd rather not spend any goodwill I might have with the Obsidian team on convincing them to list a plugin that I don't actually care about being listed in the first place.

So, it would take an extraordinarily compelling argument for why a developer needs the plugin to be in the catalog, before I would be willing to burn Obsidian core team resources (and the accompanying goodwill) on trying to get it in.

[mnaoumov]

This plugin is clearly an exception and very well-known in the Obsidian team. It's even recommended in the official docs. I am pretty sure it will be accepted easily.

Regarding the rationale of making it a plugin. It's just about making it more convenient and better fit into the ecosystem. Of course, it can be git cloned or installed via BRAT. But having it in the official catalog simplifies installation, especially for mobile devices

[pjeby]

If you're developing on a mobile device, don't you need to be able to install/sync your plugin as well?

I'm not saying there's no argument for having it in the plugin directory, I'm just saying I've yet to hear a compelling argument, given that anything you have to do with this plugin, you also have to do with your own plugin that you're developing. But knowing it's in the official docs does lower the barrier to entry somewhat. So I will consider submitting it, but I have no interest in changing the code to get it in, or arguing for its inclusion if it's initially rejected, without a more compelling rationale for me doing lots of inconvenient stuff on my part to make things very very slightly more convenient for other people.

Also, I notice that in the last 2 months, only 2 plugins have been approved for adding, out of a list of over 800 that are awaiting review. (About 400 of which were added during those same 2 months!) So I wouldn't expect it to be available any time soon, even if I do submit it.

[mnaoumov]

Just for the reference, the official docs: 1, 2 I was referring to

[Frost-VT]

That's okay! ^^ If it gets rejected, I'll be out of your hair and we can likely close this FR.

Unfortunately, compelling is a subjective term.
I can, however, address your concerns.

Concern #1: It's a dev plugin. Shouldn't it have at least the barrier of entry of git cloning a repo?
Comfort: There are other, potentially more intrusive dev plugins without that barrier of entry.
At this point, appending something to the Community Plugins is a normalized Ease of Access feature.
That we're forced to bypass this ease of access using BRAT, to me, feels like it doesn't give your plugin the respect it deserves.

Concern #2: It's a lot of effort
Comfort: You've done most of the effort already!

Concern #3: If it gets rejected, I can't justify any time spent making changes to push it onto Community Plugins.
Comfort: You don't need to. With your permission, one of us can:

1. fork the repo
2. do the work to get it published
3. link back to your original repo, giving you full credit + following any further conditions you see fit to be as respectful as possible

Concern #4: ReviewHell is HUGE! I don't expect the submission to lead to anything any time soon!
Comfort: I might know a thing or two that can expedite the process of getting out of ReviewHell. ^^

Once you've submitted it for review, please let us know!

[pjeby]

@mnaoumov I just noticed that you actually did provide a reason that makes sense for advocacy: namely the ease of being informed of and applying updates. Sorry again for overlooking your original posting. (And I tend to overlook this use case since I try not to update anything very often, and block all auto-updating by default.)

That being said, the research associated with this has now consumed basically my entire "pro bono" budget for this week, so it'll probably be a while before I start on it.

[mnaoumov]

@pjeby as a part of Obsidian plugin review team, I requested your plugin review to be put ahead of the queue, so once you try to publish it, it will go through the review process ASAP