Admin page: update Jetpack plugin version link to point to changelog

[bizanimesh]

The link behind the version number we show in the Jetpack plugin redirects to https://jetpack.com. We may improve it by redirecting it to the changelog page on WP.org or on GitHub.

Steps to Check:

1. Install the Jetpack plugin (make sure you are not on the Atomic site as on the Atomic site, it doesn't appear).
2. Go to Jetpack » Dashboard and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
3. Click on the Version and it will redirect to https://jetpack.com.

[github-actions]

OpenAI suggested the following labels for this issue:

• [Feature Group] Content Management: The issue relates to improving the management of content in the Jetpack plugin, specifically the link to version information.
• [Feature] Redirects: The issue discusses redirecting a link to improve user access to the changelog.
• [Feature] Stats Data: Updating the version link may also help users better analyze plugin updates through stats and insights.

[supernovia]

📌 REPRODUCTION RESULTS

• Tested on Pressable

📌 FINDINGS/SCREENSHOTS/VIDEO
I'm not seeing Version here; I'm guessing it's that I'm on Pressable

📌 ACTIONS

• Requested author feedback
• Also asked here: p1739369672432659-slack-CDLH4C1UZ

📌 Message to Author
@bizanimesh I wasn't able to see this at Pressable; I presume it won't show on our cloud hosting either?

[jeherve]

Related discussion:

p1739352621470439-slack-CDLH4C1UZ

I wasn't able to see this at Pressable; I presume it won't show on our cloud hosting either?

Correct, the version numbers are not displayed on the Atomic platform.

[jeherve]

The link is currently built here:

jetpack/projects/plugins/jetpack/_inc/client/components/footer/index.jsx

Lines 84 to 96 in 9742576

	// Maybe add the version link.
	if ( ! this.props.isAtomicPlatform ) {
	menu.push( {
	label: sprintf(
	/* Translators: placeholder is a version number. */
	__( 'Version %s', 'jetpack' ),
	version
	),
	href: getRedirectUrl( 'jetpack' ),
	target: '_blank',
	onClick: this.trackVersionClick,
	} );
	}

We have a few options here:

• We could update that link to point to the changelog page on WordPress.org; it is not ideal as the page includes a lot more information.
• We could have the page load a modal with the plugin details, just like you get when you click to get more details about an available update:

Screen.Recording.2025-02-12.at.15.42.36.mov

I'm personally not a fan of that option since the interface looks vastly different from our admin page footer, and we would have to do some extra work to remove additional CTA. I don't know that it's worth the effort, since the link is in the footer where few people will click on it.

• We could point the link to the running changelog on GitHub. That changelog includes alpha versions though, so that's not ideal.
• We could point the link to the matching GitHub release, i.e. this page. Again, this takes folks out of the dashboard, into an interface they may not be familiar with. It doesn't seem ideal.
• We could build a modal that would pull the contents from the changelog file that ships with every release, e.g this one. That would be the cleanest solution. However, I'm not sure this would be worth the effort since so few will be interested in that information imo. For reference, we got 40 clicks on that version link in the past 30 days.

Considering the above, I'm thinking we could take a different route and make the list of menu items filterable, so site owners could alter that list whenever they need.