Force User Field Registration

Force User Field Registration End-of-Life

For better or for worse, this is the End-of-Life announcement for Force User Field Registration.

This history behind the plugin is rather odd for me. I originally wrote it as a proof-of-concept for Add Custom fields to User Profile & Registration Pages. I never planned to actually implement it and support it, which I suppose it what I get for trying to be helpful ;).

In fact, the orginial code was just posted as a snipnet on my blog over two years and required the user to copy and paste the code into a file themselves! I finally released the code in a file you could download a four months later. It’s seen several upgrades, mostly to deal with WordPress updates that broke stuff and I even forked it into a version for WordPress MU.

I think one of the most difficult things about maintaining this plugin over the last few years is the fact that I never use it myself. I really enjoy using my own plugins and not using them on a regular basis creates a very wide disconnect for me, I don’t get to eat my own dog food.

I digress.

I was answering a request related to the Force User Field Plugin and doing some research when I came across a superior plugin that not only meets all goals set out by Force User Field Registration, but far exceeds them.

It’s called Register Plus and is coded by Skullbit.

I downloaded it and played with it briefly; and I have to say, I really like it. There are a few quirks that I’m sure the developer will work out, but nothing blocking. It also implements a number of requests that users have asked for in the past and I have not added because they fall outside the scope of the plugin or I never got around to.

Thanks to everyone who has ever used the the plugin or left a comment. At last check, there were over 1600 downloads and 143 comments (probably half of which are mine, though).

The formal announcement:

Force User Field Registration is going End-of-Life on or before December 31, 2008 23:59 PST.
I will continue to provide official patch releases (i.e. 0.6.x) as needed to maintain compatibility with WordPress 2.6.x and WordPress MU based on WordPress 2.6.x.

On or before January 1, 2009 00:00 PST, I will provide help on a case by case basis, however I will no longer be releasing updates.

The code will remain posted and licensed under the GNU GPL. The official plugin page will remain up: Force User Field Registration

What I believe to be a suitable replacement:
Register Plus by Skullbit.

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Force User Field Registration v0.6

So it seems like WordPress 2.5 ended up breaking some things in the previous version. So I did some work over the weekend and brought everything back up to speed. Here’s a list of what’s been updated:

  • Added PHPDoc
  • Updated add_action to use inbuilt filter rather then have users add their own
  • Update admin UI to 2.5 LnF1
  • Updated input tag to make it look like native input tags
  • Updated fergcorp_forceRegistrationField_updateFields to use passed variable instead of DB query
  • Updated error handling in fergcorp_forceRegistrationField_checkFields to use the new WP_Error object (note: this makes WP 2.5 a minimum requirement)

I think the best news is that you don’t need to modify files anymore to get the plugin to work, you can just drop it in and go. WordPress also has implemented a new error handling framework (WP_Error) which is pretty spiffy.

On a side note, I did take a gander at the MU version of the plugin and it appears to be working properly…at least for now.

Read more or download it!

1 LnF: Look and Feel

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