Working with SVN
Fix common WordPress SVN errors when publishing plugins to WordPress.org, including authentication,
trunk, tags, Stable Tag, assets and version problems.
How to Publish a WordPress Plugin on WordPress.org
You built a WordPress plugin. It works. You’ve tested it, packaged it, and you’re ready to make it available to WordPress users.
Then you discover something that surprises many first-time plugin developers:
Publishing a plugin on WordPress.org uses SVN.
Even if you develop your plugin with Git and host the project on GitHub, the official WordPress.org Plugin Directory uses a Subversion (SVN) repository for publishing releases.
WordPress describes this repository as a release repository rather than a development repository.
How to Use SVN for a WordPress Plugin: Complete WordPress.org Guide
If you develop WordPress plugins with Git or GitHub, receiving an SVN repository from WordPress.org can feel like entering a different world.
You may already have your source code organized. Your plugin works. Your GitHub repository is clean. Your release ZIP is ready.
Then WordPress.org gives you an address like:https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/your-plugin/
Now what?
The important thing to understand is that WordPress.org SVN is primarily a publishing and release system—not where you need to do your everyday plugin development.
Common WordPress SVN Errors and How to Fix Them
Publishing a WordPress plugin to WordPress.org can feel surprisingly complicated the first time you encounter Subversion.
You may already use Git and GitHub every day, but WordPress.org uses SVN as its plugin release repository. That creates a different workflow—and a different collection of errors.
A release can fail because your files are in the wrong directory, your Stable Tag doesn’t match your plugin version, SVN doesn’t recognize your working copy, credentials aren’t accepted, or a release tag wasn’t created correctly.
The good news is that most WordPress SVN problems fall into a relatively small number of categories.
Why WordPress.org Uses SVN Differently From GitHub
Before troubleshooting SVN, it’s important to understand what WordPress.org expects from it.
WordPress describes its SVN repository as a release repository rather than a development repository. Developers are encouraged to do their day-to-day development elsewhere.
WordPress SVN vs GitHub: What Plugin Developers Need to Know
If you develop WordPress plugins with GitHub, you may be surprised when your first plugin is approved for the WordPress.org Plugin Directory.
Instead of asking for your GitHub repository, WordPress.org gives you something different:
https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/your-plugin/It’s an SVN repository.
That naturally raises a question:
Should a WordPress plugin use GitHub or SVN?
For many WordPress plugin developers, the answer is:
Both.
GitHub and WordPress.org SVN solve different problems.
GitHub is an excellent home for developing and collaborating on your plugin. WordPress.org SVN is the publishing system used to distribute approved plugins through the official WordPress Plugin Directory.
WordPress itself makes this distinction very clearly: its Plugin Directory requires the provided Subversion repository, while GitHub is one of the options it recommends for open-source collaboration and development.
Made for People Who Build.
There is something special about finishing a piece of software and sending it out into the world.
The final steps shouldn’t be the part you dread.
WordPress Plugin Publisher exists so developers can spend more of their time creating great plugins—and less of it managing the machinery required to release them.
Build the plugin.
Let Publisher handle the release.