Plugin jQuery version VS Theme jQuery version: search for best practice

As other have mentioned , there is no great answer to this, ultimately you cannot control how other people write plugins/themes and there are no standards for naming wp_enqueue_script‘s, though there probably should be.

Also there is no current way to check if jQuery is loaded using wp_enqueue_script, though this is very easy to do at the template level with something like window.jQuery.

Some notes, since this gets bit weird:

Scenario 1Same name

If you use the name jquery to enqueue your script, for example:

wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery', '/ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js');

It will not enqueue ^ this link , but instead use the default WordPress bundled jQuery which is:

wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=x.x.x (latest bundled)

The reason is your using the same name, a name registered by WordPress first.

Scenario 2Diff name

If you use a different name, for example:

wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery-hi','/ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js');

It will just enqueue jquery-hi and not the bundled WordPress jQuery.

Scenario 3Multiple names

If you have several plugins/themes using different names, such as:

wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery-hi','/ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js');
wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery-pie','/ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js');

It will enqueue both of them.

ps. Don’t load your own jQuery (or other bundled wp script) in the admin, ever.