Best Practice for Deleting Plugins?

[Kevin Kleinfelter]

Is there a 'best practice' for how to thoroughly and effectively delete plugins?  (I'm using node.js, if that matters.)

I've been just deleting the plugin's tiddler.  Today, I had to spend some quality time poking around in my tiddlers folder, and I see a bunch of leftover $__plugins files from deleted plugins.

It appears that when I delete a plugin named $:/plugins/foo/bar via TW, I also need to visit the file system and manually delete $__plugins_foo_bar* from the tiddlers folder.  Any other cleanup I ought to be doing?

TIA

[Sylvain Naudin]

Hi,

On Node.js you should install plugin in command line via tiddlywiki.info file, so to deleting them do the same I think ;)

[PMario]

Hi

You only need to clean up plugin tiddlers, that you changed. eg: plugin settings.

Code-tiddlers should all be gone, if you delete the plugin tiddler.

-m

[TonyM]

When Deleting the plugin tiddler in a single file wiki any overridden shadow tiddlers will remain in the wiki.

Probably in node as well?

This could have the advantage of config settings restored if the plugin is restored, but stylesheets and macros may remain active and cause trouble sometimes.

If you review the contents tab in a plugin before deletion, the overwritten tiddlers will be "un bolded", you can save them somewhere first, or click on them and delete them, to return to the plugin shadow tiddler. 

• Then Deleting of the plugin will not leave these behind.
• You will need save and reload the wiki to remove all plugin tentacles
• If a Plugin created another tiddler when operating eg $:/config/plugin setting it may also be left behind.
• The only way to be sure there is to work through its config settings find and delete the tiddlers
• But this is usually unnecessary.

I was thinking about proposing a generic method to delete plugins and do their own cleanup, along with supporting the features in my Post Script.

Post Script

• This overridden shadow tiddler method is quite useful
• Restoring settings, maintaining settings after upgrade and more.
• It could be co-opted to make changes to a plugin and repackage it, in wiki or export.

Regards

Tony