Recently, the self-hosted WordPress website, wordpress.org, added a new function to the plugin section of the site.

Already, plugin authors can use the option of “this plugin is compatible up to X version of WordPress,” so why would Automattic want to crowd-source plugin compatibility? I believe they added this bit because so often, a plugin is still functional for the most recent version of WordPress even though the plugin author has not updated the plugin to reflect that.

I really think this is a great function for the site because it will help people be able to trust plugins, not forcing them to decide whether or not it’s safe to use for the current version of WordPress.

What’s great about this new compatibility box is that it’s not just for the most recent version of WordPress. It lets you choose your setup, for whatever version you are using, whether it be 2.3, 2.5, or bleeding edge 2.9-rare (expected to be released next month), you can more easily see if the plugin is working for other people.

This kind of crowd-sourced system is great as it helps build credibility to the plugin repository.

There are still a number of other things that I would like to see happen with the plugin repository, but you’ll hear about that in the coming weeks.

Edit: Mark Jaquith posted an official announcement about it this morning.