How to Manage WordPress Plugins With Apache Subversion

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: To start

   In this example, we will install the ‘Buddypress’ plugin, which has a URL of http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/ and therefore a URL slug of ‘buddypress.’ (If you wanted to add the ‘WP Super Cache’ plugin, the URL would be http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/ and so the URL slug would be wp-super-cache) , The standard repository for WordPress plugins, is http://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/ Simply add the URL slug to this address, and you have the location of that particular plugin’s repository.
   
   In this example, it will be http://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/buddypress.
   
   Enter this URL and you will be taken to the repository. , The quickest way to determine this, is to open the ‘Read Me’ file in the ‘trunk’ directory. , This is the latest stable release, and it is the version of the plugin you should checkout.
   
   In this example, the latest release is
   1.5.3.1.
   
   Tip: if you can’t find the ‘Stable tags’ line, the ‘trunk’ directory should contain the latest stable version. ,,,, Simply find out what the latest version number is (repeat steps 4 and 5, if you do not already know the version number.) ,,
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   Step 2: find a plugin you wish to add to WordPress by visiting http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/;

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   Step 3: Once you have found the right plugin

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   Step 4: make a note of its URL slug (the part of a URL that identifies the page using human-readable keywords.)

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   Step 5: you need to locate the plugin’s Subversion repository.

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   Step 6: you need to work out what the latest version of the plugin is.

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   Step 7: At the top of the ‘Read Me’ file

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   Step 8: you should see a ‘Stable tags’ line with a version number.

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   Step 9: Now you are ready to checkout the plugin using the ‘svn checkout’ command: svn checkout http://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/(URL-SLUG)/tags/(version number) (/wp-content/plugins/plugin-name) In this example

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    Step 10: the command will look like this:

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    Step 11: Subversion will now begin to checkout the files into a folder called ‘buddypress.’

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    Step 12: You can now go to the administration panel in your WordPress account

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    Step 13: and activate the plugin!

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    Step 14: It is also possible to easily upgrade plugins that are installed in this manner.

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    Step 15: Run the ‘svn switch’ command with the new version number to upgrade the plugin: svn switch (plugin URL) For example

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    Step 16: if you were upgrading to version 1.6 of Buddypress

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    Step 17: the command would be:

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    Step 18: Subversion will now switch your working copy to the new version of the plugin!

Detailed Guide

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