The WordPress Theme Repository
Chip Bennett, WordCamp Kansas City, 11 June 2011
Developing, submitting, and finding the best free WordPress Themes
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The WordPress Theme Repository Audience
Developers? End Users? How long using WordPress?
Agenda What is the WordPress Theme Repository? Why the WordPress Theme Repository? Developing a Repository-hosted Theme Submitting a Repository-hosted Theme Finding a Repository-hosted Theme
Open Forum Feedback, criticism, and ideas for the WordPress
Theme Repository: Themes, quality, Guidelines, review process
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What is the WordPress Theme Repository?
A description and brief history of the Repository
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The WordPress Theme Repository:What is the WordPress Theme Repository? The official WordPress.org
directory of free WordPress Themes.
Timeline: Jul 2008: Theme Repository
Opens Dec 2008: WordPress 2.7
Introduces Theme Updates from WP Admin Interface
Dec 2008: 200 Themes Purged From Repository
Jun 2009: WordPress 2.8 Introduces Theme Repository Browsing from WP Admin Interface
Jun 2010: Formation of Theme Review Team
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Why the WordPress Theme Repository?
How the Repository benefits both WordPress end users and Theme developers
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Why the WordPress Theme Repository? End Users
Convenience: Integrated into WP-Admin backend – search, install, updates
Quality: Reviewed by real, live human beings Comprehensive Guidelines ensure high quality and support
for core WordPress features and functionality Reliability/Freedom
No malicious code or link spam No bogus attribution-link requirements No encrypted footers or any other encrypted code 100% GPL or GPL-compatible
You cannot find this combination anywhere else in the world!
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Why the WordPress Theme Repository? Developers
Automatic Updates Exposure
Integrated into WP-Admin backend
WordPress 3.1 has been downloaded more than 12 million timeshttp://wordpress.org/download/counter/
Built-in support mechanism WordPress.org Support
Forum integration Great way to give back to
the community!
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Developing a Repository-Hosted Theme
What Theme developers should know about developing Themes to be hosted in the Repository
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Developing a Repository-Hosted Theme Setup Test Environment
Latest WordPress version (including betas and release candidates)
wp-config.php: set WP_DEBUG to TRUE Plugins: Theme Check, Log Deprecated Notices, Debug
Bar, FixPress, WordPress Beta Tester Theme Review Guidelines
Ensure Theme code meets guidelines for code quality, functionality, data security, licensing, naming, credit links, documentation, etc.
Theme Unit Tests Install Theme Unit Test Data Ensure Theme meets guidelines for output and display
of content
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines Quality
Why “Quality”? “The goal of the theme directory is not to list every theme
in the world, it's to list the best ones. We want a reasonable number of themes we can point to that embody the best and brightest of WordPress development, and that users can choose without compromise.” – Matt Mullenweg
What is “Quality”? The current Theme Review Guidelines can be summarized
into five main areas:1. Licensing, Credit Links, and Security2. Code and Markup Standards Compliance and Best Practices3. WordPress Functionality and Feature Support4. WordPress Best Practices5. Theme Front-End Display
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines - Quality Licensing, Credit Links, and Security
Why? Non-negotiable; protect end-user data and freedoms Abuse of these issues is the original, and remains the
primary, reason for Theme review Licensing
100% GPL-compatible. Period. Credit Links
Reasonable, accurate, appropriate Security
No malicious code or exploits (Yes, sadly, we still get people attempting to submit Themes
with these)
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines - Quality Code and Markup Standards Compliance and
Best Practices Why?
“Low-hanging fruit”, for the most part Encourage intentional code, rather than copy-pasta
reliance Demonstrate purpose/pride in work, attention to detail
HTML/CSS validation High-level review: major issues only
PHP/JS Errors and Notices Clean, quiet output
Deprecated WordPress Functions Maintain forward-compatibility
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines - Quality WordPress Functionality and Feature Support
Why? Ensure consistent user experience among Themes Expose full power/potential of WordPress to end users Leverage work of WordPress developer community, rather
than “reinventing the wheel” for functionality Required Functionality
Intentionally short list: Comments, Widgets Recommended Features
Not required to be implemented, but if they are, must support core WordPress functionality: Navigation Menus, Post Thumbnails, Post Formats, Custom Header Images, Custom Backgrounds, Visual Editor Style, etc.
Optional Features Everything else
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines - Quality WordPress Best Practices
Why? Helps ensure interoperability between Themes and Plugins, and future
compatibility with WordPress core Facilitates use of Repository as resource for new developers
Code practices Naming convention/prefixing
Support for most recent WordPress version Forward-compatibility, cleanup of deprecated code, not encouraging use of
obsolete versions of WordPress Use of core functions, hooks, template tags, and styles
Plugin compatibility, facilitate child-theming, consistent user experience Use of standard Theme template files
Must be used appropriately. At a minimum: index.php, style.css, screenshot.png, comments.php
Theme documentation Anything out of the ordinary must be documented, so end users know how
to use the Theme properly
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Theme Review Guidelines - Quality Theme Front-End Display
Why? Ensures consistent experience for site visitors, and that
user data are displayed as expected Theme Unit Test Data
Standard data set tests all major WordPress features and content types
Implementation and content, not aesthetics
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Submitting a Theme
De-mystifying the process of Theme submission, review, and approval
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme Resources
WordPress.org Theme Uploader Themes Subversion (SVN) Themes-Trac WordPress.org Extend/Themes WordPress Theme Review Team (WPTRT)
Process Prepare/Upload Theme Package (developer) Generate Theme-Trac ticket (SVN/Trac) Theme Review/Approval (WPTRT reviewers) Synchronize SVN with Extend (WPTRT admins)
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Resources WordPress.org Theme
Uploader Only way to submit
Theme to the Repository (No SVN-commit access
for themes.svn, at least, not yet)
Includes several automated scripts/tests Synchronized with Theme
Check Plugin
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Resources Themes SVN
Where uploaded Theme files are stored, after the Theme ZIP archive is unpacked by the Theme uploader
Perpetual repository: files are never deleted, except for extraordinarily egregious reasons
SVN-checkout access
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Resources Themes-Trac
Theme Review ticketing/tracking system
Uploader assigns each uploaded Theme a new ticket
Theme Review process takes place within Trac tickets
Theme Review progress tracked via Trac reports
Theme developers can post comments using WPORG login credentials
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Resources WordPress.org
Extend/Themes Front-end for
access/download of Repository-hosted Themes
Heavily-modded bbPress install
Must be manually synchronized with SVN after Theme is approved in Trac
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Resources WordPress Theme Review Team (WPTRT)
Who are they? All-volunteer team of WordPress community members Mostly self-directing, under the WPORG umbrella Varying degrees of WordPress experience/expertise Undergo training period before gaining ticket resolution/closure
privileges What is their purpose?
Review and approve Theme tickets as quickly and as completely as possible
Provide an educational resource for the WordPress Theme Developer community
Encourage and establish community standards for Theme quality and best practices
Anyone can get involved, and anyone interested is encouraged to do so!
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Process Prepare/Upload Theme (Developer)
Remove any extraneous files (.git or .svn directories, MACOSX files, backup files, etc)
Compress the Theme as a ZIP file (the name of the file does not matter; it is re-packaged by SVN after being uploaded)
Upload the ZIP file, using the WordPress.org Uploader. Generate Trac Ticket (SVN/Trac)
If the uploader script finds no warning or required issues, the Theme is uploaded, and Trac ticket generated. Note: ensure that your Themes-Trac user profile includes an
email address, so that you receive automated notification emails
If the uploader script does find such issues, the upload fails, and the script returns a report of all detected issues
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Process Theme Review/Approval (WPTRT reviewers)
A WPTRT Reviewer assigns himself the Trac ticket, and proceeds with the review.
Any issues noted during the review are listed in a comment to the Trac ticket. Noted issues are indicated as either REQUIRED (must be
fixed for Theme approval) or RECOMMENDED. Some Reviewers will attach screenshots to help clarify
Theme issues, or may give additional information, suggestions, etc.
If the Theme has any REQUIRED issues, the ticket is closed as “not-approved”. Otherwise, the ticket is closed as “approved”.
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Submitting a Theme: Process Synchronize SVN with Extend (WPTRT admins)
When a Trac ticket is closed, the version of the Theme included in the ticket must be synchronized with Extend. Approved Themes are synchronized as “approved” Not-Approved (or Newer-Version-Uploaded) Themes are
synchronized as “old” This synchronization is a manual process, usually
performed by a WPTRT admin at least once per day
Once a Theme is synchronized as “approved”, it becomes the version available for download in Extend. Note: Extend is comprised of several servers; due to
caching, it may take some time for the new version to propagate
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Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme
What end users should know about searching for Themes hosted in the Repository
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme What to look for:
“Last Updated”: Themes that are being actively maintained The oldest Theme in the Repository was last updated June 2008,
when WordPress was still at Version 2.5. Look for Themes updated since the most recent WordPress version,
to ensure support for the latest WordPress features. If, e.g., a Theme was last updated prior to the following dates, it will not support these features: WordPress 3.1 Feb 2011 Post Formats WordPress 3.0 June 2010 Custom Nav
Menus/Headers/Backgrounds WordPress 2.9 Dec 2009 Post Thumbnails WordPress 2.8 June 2009 Widgets WordPress 2.7 Dec 2008 Comment Threading/Paging
Themes added/updated since ca. Fall 2010 have all undergone a thorough, consistent Theme Review
Active support: either via the Theme’s WPORG support forum, or via the developer’s site
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme Themes with Specific
Features Find Themes that meet
your exact needs. Tag Filters: Colors Columns Width Features Subject
WP-Admin: Boolean AND search only
Extend: Boolean AND/OR searches
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme Featured Themes
A sometimes-updated list of Themes highlighted by the WPTRT
Generally, Themes with exemplary code quality, features, and/or design
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme Newest Themes
Newest Themes added to the Repository (Newly added Themes,
not existing Themes that have been recently updated)
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The WordPress Theme Repository:Finding a Repository-Hosted Theme Recently Updated
Themes Existing Themes that
have been updated most recently
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Recap
Whew! That was a lot!
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The WordPress Theme Repository Recap:
What is the WordPress Theme Repository? Why the WordPress Theme Repository? Developing a Repository-hosted Theme Submitting a Repository-hosted Theme Finding a Repository-hosted Theme
Questions?
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Open Forum
You’ve heard from me; now I want to hear from you
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The WordPress Theme Repository Open Forum
Feedback, criticism, and ideas for the WordPress Theme Repository: Theme Repository:
Theme Selection, Theme Quality, Child Themes/Theme Frameworks etc.
Theme Submission Process Theme Review Guidelines Theme Review Process
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Resources
Sites and information referenced, and further reading
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The WordPress Theme Repository Resources
End Users Theme Repository: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ Extend/Themes Tag Filter: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/tag-filter/ Only Download Themes From Trusted Sources:
http://www.chipbennett.net/2010/12/10/only-download-wordpress-themes-from-trusted-sources/ Developers
Theme Uploader: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/upload/ Themes SVN: http://themes.svn.wordpress.org/ Theme-Trac: https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/ Theme Review Guidelines: http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review Theme Unit Tests: http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Unit_Test
WordPress Theme Review Team WPTRT: http://make.wordpress.org/themes/ How to Join WPTRT: http://make.wordpress.org/themes/about/how-to-join-wptrt/ Theme-Reviewers Mail List: http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers Theme Review Plugins:
Theme Check: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-check/ Log Deprecated Notices: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/log-deprecated-notices/ Debug Bar: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/debug-bar/ FixPress: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/fixpress/ WordPress Beta Tester: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/
More Resources: http://make.wordpress.org/themes/guidelines/resources/ Editorials/Tutorials
Theme Review Editorial: http://www.chipbennett.net/2010/10/20/in-defense-of-the-wordpress-theme-review-guidelines/ Theme Quality Editorial: http://www.chipbennett.net/2010/10/19/in-defense-of-the-wordpress-theme-review-process/ Theme Review Tutorial:
http://www.chipbennett.net/2011/04/20/a-guide-to-reviewing-themes-for-the-wordpress-theme-repository/ Settings API Tutorial: http://www.chipbennett.net/2011/02/17/incorporating-the-settings-api-in-wordpress-themes/
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