How do we get updated about new versions of plugins?

I just saw a bug about an admin page getting stuck looking for an update.... I see that this information appears to be current. Is there someway that we can now know without modifications that a new version is out for the plugins we use without having them loaded through the plugin directory? Can I get the list of plugin ids and put them into the table? How are notifications given? I have NEVER in all the years I have been here.... been notified that a plugin was updated. :(

Plugins that have been coded to check for updates should also be coded to show that an update is available.

It's mostly just the plugins that have been written/updated in the last year, by regular contributors, that have this ability.

Also, you can see the latest updates by clicking on the Plugins link on the forum menu, and looking in the right-hand column.

DrByte:

Plugins that have been coded to check for updates should also be coded to show that an update is available.

It's mostly just the plugins that have been written/updated in the last year, by regular contributors, that have this ability.

Also, you can see the latest updates by clicking on the Plugins link on the forum menu, and looking in the right-hand column.

Thank you! I think I can probably run a bash script and check my plugins that way with daily pulls. It's great to know that the information is out there.... is this also where we get notified of updates to ZC?

You can go to https://www.zen-cart.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Zen-Cart-Release-Announcements and subscribe to the thread. You will be notified of any change.

Generally speaking also an update will be identified within the thread for the associated plugin. So, in addition to possibly helping others through their issues can be notified of updates by subscribing to the thread(s) for the plugin(s).

dbltoe:

You can go to https://www.zen-cart.com/forumdisplay.php?2-Zen-Cart-Release-Announcements and subscribe to the thread. You will be notified of any change.

Thank you dbletoe! But this link is only for the main zen-cart software not the plugins... Thanks for the input though!

Challenge: create a report that checks for updates on each of your plugins.
(Just do the common ones like shipping and payment modules to start with.)

The plugins server already gets hit with a lot of traffic. Running more reports isn't going to help.

Your point is well taken. Should we modify plugin_version_check_for_updates to cache this data?

Better than writing new reports or bash scripts etc, would be to simply update plugins that don't do any checking to add the checking to them.
Just be sure never to fire those checks on the storefront; only do it on the admin side. Otherwise you slow down your own store as well as the versioning server.

There are some that will never be suitable to do a self-inquiry. eg: templates, and storefront-only changes.
And some rarely ever need updates, so best not to code them to check regularly either.