Jeffrey Pearce 6:47 pm on October 15, 2021
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Gutenberg + Themes: Week of October 11th, 2021

Hello! This is the 69th weekly roundup of theme-related discussions, fixes, and developments in GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/.

As always, please weigh in on the tickets below — your feedback is crucial and appreciated. 

Active Issues / Discussions & PRs

  • Themes: Allow themes to surface specific patterns from the Patterns Directory #35364
  • Themes: Duotone filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. not rendering in some places #35331
  • Themes: Custom Templates: Use “title” from the theme.jsonJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML. #35592
  • FSEFSE Short for Full Site Editing, a project for the Gutenberg plugin and the editor where a full page layout is created using only blocks.: Allow child theme.json to be merged with parent theme.json #35459
  • FSE: Split Post Author in to separate blocks #35596
  • GS: Consider a root-level site padding solution that still lets some items go full-width #35607
  • GS: Webfonts APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. implementation in theme.json #35591
  • GS: Social Icons: Preset colors do not stay in sync with Global Styles presets #35480
  • GS: Components: assess Heading styles in the context of the recent design updates #35464
  • GS: Theme.json – styles.blocks.coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress./button.spacing.padding doesn’t apply if button uses Outline style #35438
  • GS: Add a selection of preset spacing values to supplement/replace custom padding/margin options #35306
  • GS: Allow switching global styles variations #35619
  • DT: Layout: top margin overwrites theme.json blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. when gap support enabled #35411

Merged/Fixed/Announced

  • Themes: Support title in templateParts #35626
  • Themes: Enable theme supports automatically for FSE theme #35593
  • Themes: Elements block support: Fix link color rendering on site front end #35446
  • Themes: Reset margin for all children of flow layouts #35426
  • GS: Don’t output preset classes for colors defined by the theme #35514

Overview Issues

  • Default Theme (Twenty Twenty Two): Overview of Gutenberg issues: #75
  • GS: The Global Styles Interface #34574  
  • FSE: Post Comments LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. Block: Tracking issue #34994 
  • FSE: Site Editing block placeholders #35501
  • DT: Typography Tools: Tracking defaults for blocks #35604

General Resources

Thanks @mikachan for compiling with this week’s summary. Please comment if there’s something you’d like to highlight 🙂

#gutenberg-themes-roundup

Carolina Nymark 7:23 am on October 14, 2021
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Theme tools and requirements recap

Earlier this year, representatives from the themes team and metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. team had a call together with Matt and Josepha. This set a new goal and action points for improving the theme submission process.

Meeting notes February 24, 2021

Next steps on themes and reviews

Overarching goal

Increase the number of installed themes that originate from the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ theme directory.

Action points

  • Reduce requirements.
  • Improve automated tools.
  • Move the manual review step to after a theme is added to the theme directory.
  • Add user facing flags for theme quality based on the result of the automated checks.
  • Add a new algorithm for the theme directory that prioritizes themes based on the flags.
  • A local development environment with the theme directory to make it easier to contribute.
  • Make it easier to submit themes.

Summary of what has been achieved so far

During quarter three (Q3), the focus has been on automated tools and reducing requirements.

As of October 4, the review process still includes a manual step before a theme is added to the theme directory. Before the manual review can be moved, an automated license check must be implemented, and the security checks must be analyzed.

The requirements have been reduced to a list of 13 items. This list will be reduced further when the order of the review process is updated.

  • Theme Review Action has been implemented on the themes TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. and is used to present results from e2e and integration tests of the theme.
  • Theme Check pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party (which is also used on the themes Trac) has been updated to reduce the requirements and improve error messages.
  • A local environment for the theme directory is available at https://github.com/WordPress/theme-directory-env
  • A plan for allowing themes to be submitted via SVNSVN Apache Subversion (often abbreviated SVN, after its command name svn) is a software versioning and revision control system. Software developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly compatible successor to the widely used Concurrent Versions System (CVS). WordPress core and the wordpress.org released code are all centrally managed through SVN. https://subversion.apache.org/. has been published.
  • Work on the user-facing badges or flags, and the new algorithm has not started.

Further reducing requirements and improving automated tools

One goal, with reducing the requirements and improve the automated tools, is to reach the point where authors can safely add themes to the directory without manual review.

The current review process

In short:

  1. A logged-in user submits a zip file.
  2. Automated review.
  3. Manual review.
  4. The theme is added to the theme directory manually.

What we aim to change the process to

  1. A logged-in user submits a zip file or uploads a theme via SVN.
  2. Automated review.
  3. The theme is added to the directory automatically.
  4. Results of the remaining automated tests are presented as flags or badges.
  5. Manual review after user reports, spot-checking.

The automated review at step 2 is proposed to make sure that:

  • The theme is secure.
  • The theme is GPLGPL GPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples. compatible.
  • The WordPress trademark is respected.
  • The theme does not break the theme directory or theme previewer.

Requirements

Because engagement is understandably low because of covid, I decided to list the easy, or if you prefer, low conflict and non-controversial requirements first, publish a proposal from that and then iterate.

To decide which requirements to remove, I used the list of guard rails and looked at the impact of removing the requirement on the theme directory itself and theme quality.

I used a public GitHub repository to create an overview of the requirements and to present suggestions of requirements that could be removed. There was no engagement besides those directly involved in the project.

A proposal for reduced requirements and request for feedback was published on the Themes team Make blog on July 20. The team had a zoom call with theme authors to discuss the changes.
With the result of the request for feedback, two more requirements were reduced.

@dd32 created a new SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel called #themereview-firehose to help the themes team representatives keep track of which requirements are preventing themes from being uploaded. This type of statistics was not available before.

Automated tools

There are two main tools:

Theme Review Action uses Theme Check, and results from both tools are presented to the theme author and reviewer.

GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ was used to document what is actually checked by the automated tools, compared to what was listed on the theme requirements page on WordPress.org.
Besides the work on updating and creating new checks and tests, time was put into removing discrepancies.

@dufresnesteven created an improved table that lists the requirements in different categories. This helped us gain a better overview of the requirement as they were iterated on. We are using the table to list which tool is used to check which requirement.

Next steps

I would like to add that I expect the requirements to be reduced further if the themes team can find a way to engage more people in the conversation.

To help theme authors adjust to the new less restrictive requirements, I propose that the themes team publishes more in-depth articles to clarify the changes.

My analysis is that three more steps are needed to reach the point where authors can safely add themes to the directory without manual review:

  1. Determine if the security checks are enough, and if not, learn what still needs to be added.
  2. GPL license confirmation
  3. The PHP error check in Theme Review Action must prevent theme upload, to prevent the theme previewer from breaking.

#themes-team

KafleG 1:28 am on October 13, 2021  

Themes Team Meeting Notes – October 12, 2021

This is the meeting notes from the themes review team discussion, October 12, 2021. 

We have the theme-related discussion on #themereview channel on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. 

Full transcript: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RP4Y3K/p1634050823367700

Here is this week’s meeting agendas. Thank you @kafleg for preparing the agendas. 

1. Weekly updates

The themes team published weekly updates about tickets and HelpScout emails. See this week’s updates here in the past 7 days,

  • 298 tickets were opened
  • 310 tickets were closed:
  • 285 tickets were made live.
    • 30 new Themes were made live.
    • 255 Theme updates were made live.
  • 1 more were approved but are waiting to be made live.
  • 25 tickets were not-approved.
  • 0 tickets were closed-newer-version-uploaded.

Number of reviewers: 4

2. Meeting note with theme authors

@kafleg shared his discussion with the theme authors. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. 

3. Open floor 

There were no discussions regards to theme development at today’s meeting. 

[Twenty Twenty-Two]

The new default theme Twenty Twenty-Two was announced last week! Anyone who is interested in contributing or follow the development, make sure to check out https://github.com/WordPress/twentytwentytwo

[Author agreement prior to uploading]

The theme authors are now required to acknowledge the copyright ownership and license before uploading the theme. The authors are also required to agree with compliance with the theme guidelines. It is to ensure that the authors are aware of the requirements before the theme is submitted. Thank you @dd32 for the update. 

KafleG 4:25 pm on October 11, 2021
Tags: ,   

Themes Team Meeting Agenda for October 12, 2021

Channel: #themereview | Time: Tuesday, October 12 2021, 15:00 UTC

The themes team conducts a meeting on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.
The meeting takes place in the #themereview channel on WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. and you need an account to participate.

Along with the fixed agendas, we have an open floor at the end where you can ask or share anything related to themes.

We encourage all members and anyone interested to attend.

Meeting agenda

  1. Weekly updates
  2. About meeting note with theme authors
  3. Open floor

Weekly Updates

Current statistics can be found on: https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/ 

Themes TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. ticket graph: https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/ticketgraph

Check regular weekly updates here.

Also check,

About meeting note with theme authors

Last week we @kafleg published a meeting note and the meeting was held with theme authors and the themes team. See the meeting notes here and add your view in the comment section.

Open floor

We will discuss everything related to themes. Attendees can ask or share themes-related things.

Please comment in the comment box below if you have anything to bring up during the open floor.

#agenda, #themes-team

KafleG 3:28 am on October 9, 2021  

Meeting notes – Themes team representative and theme authors

On 22 Sept 2021, @kafleg from the themes team organized a call with Nepali theme authors. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new requirements.

At first, the themes team would like to thank all theme authors for their attendance and valuable suggestions.

In this post, I am going to share what we discussed during the meeting. We went through the requirements one by one and discussed them.

AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) requirements

Theme authors want to remove the accessibility requirements. Currently, we have Skip Links, Underline Links, and Keyboard Navigation as accessibility requirements. One theme author says, “there is already an accessibility-ready tag for themes. These requirements should only apply to the accessibility-ready themes. Or, we can add a new tag for this case”.

Allow design based blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. in themes

Theme authors want to add design-related blocks in themes. Currently, custom blocks are not allowed in themes. They suggested “If we are allowed to have design-related widgets, why not custom blocks? If we are allowed to add custom blocks, we can make even better themes using blocks. The available blocks are not well enough to make the design better”. “Making a pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party for custom blocks and recommending is a solution but it’s not better”, they added.

Give priority to the block-based theme

Theme authors said, “The themes team needs to find a proper way to encourage theme authors who want to make block themes. Either by making a new tab in the themes repository or using other methods. With that, we can see more block themes”.

Affiliate Links

Allowing affiliate links is a good move. However, they are concerned about the number of links they are allowed to add.

Bundled demo file in the theme

The theme authors want to include bundling demo files in the theme. “It will make the usage of theme simple. Users can import the demo data directly from the theme instead of installing recommended plugins”, they said.

Suggestions from theme authors

They suggested switching the popular and latest themes tab in the theme repository to give more exposure to the new themes. They said, “The themes team is giving more priority to the popular themes instead of new ones. If a new theme is not getting exposure, theme authors will be discouraged from making more themes and the number of submissions will be reduced”.

“Reducing the requirements is not the ultimate solution for increasing the theme installation. If themes are more functional, easy to use, and perfect in design, the number will increase”, they added.

Conclusion

The rest of the requirements are fine to them. Theme authors want to get more exposure and more flexibility in the requirements.

Note: The session was held in the Nepali language and it wasn’t recorded.