[theme-reviewers] Mandatory fields and elements for posts and comments

[Mario Peshev]

@Chipp, Clear enough, most parts. Thanks.

1) I've noticed 2 or 3 themes submitted that had no view block for author or
tags/categories in the single.php. Associating this related to the
parent-child relation, I thought it might be possible to skip.

3) Can't think of a specific case, let's say doing own comment_form() or
pagination implementation, or using plain PHP sanitation functions instead
of WP stripping with something like wp_filter_nohtml_kses. But more of a
custom coding.

4) I have thought about more low level debugging as a continuation of the
Theme Check plugin. Last week I had to debug with the WordPress Hook Sniffer
and I thought there is a room for more automated pretesting and someone
could have already done it.

P.S. 5) Some of the guidelines are still draft (
http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review#Site_Information ), I don't know
whether to point them or ignore them now.

@Justin - it's always nice to have everything cover but when it isn't and I
need to give my personal opinion based on the guidelines I'm not always
confident to approve or reject based on some doubts. Most themes I've run
into have 'muted' some of the requirements or passed through some sort of
workaround when they consider implementing them inappropriate and
unnecessary.

All the best,

Mario Peshev
freelance software developer/trainer
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mpeshev
http://peshev.net/blog



On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 2:32 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:

> I apologize for any brevity...
>
> 1) Themes must *incorporate* all of that content, but are given as much
> latitude as possible for design intent. If the content types are
> incorporated *somehow*, and implemented properly, then that's usually
> sufficient.
>
> 2) Themes are required to include .wp-caption, .wp-caption-text, and
> .gallery-caption in style.css. If those classes are left empty, we consider
> that a design decision. As long as captions are displayed, and are minimally
> aesthetic, that is acceptable.
>
> Themes must support threaded comments.
>
> 3) That's a case-by-case determination. Generally speaking, *replacing*
> core code should not be done; if a core method exists, it should be used.
> Can you provide an example?
>
> 4) What sort of verification assistance are you looking for? Automated
> tests can only go so far, and we're just about as far as we can get with
> Theme Check, Log Deprecated Notices, Debogger, and Debug Bar.
>
> 5) Differentiating between "unacceptable" and "nice to have" is the reason
> that the Guidelines are rigidly defined using *required* versus
> *recommended*. (I admit that the Theme Unit Tests could be more clear. For
> the most part, though: if it's listed in the Theme Unit Tests, it's
> *required*.)
>
> Chip
>
> On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 5:22 PM, Mario Peshev <mario at peshev.net> wrote:
>
>> Hello reviewers,
>>
>> I'm rereading the unit test and theme review pages on a regular basis in
>> order to remember all the requirements for easier lookup on the new themes.
>> I have some questions that I would be happy to share and get a feedback if
>> possible. They are somehow mentioned in both documents but I find no hundred
>> percent case that covers or states straight.
>>
>> 1) What are the mandatory fields visible for a post in single.php and
>> page.php? According to the test cases and demo content I presume title,
>> author, date, content, tags and categories lists, as well as parent-child
>> relations and paging are required. However Chipp made a remark that
>> parent-child relations visible in the post are not required, I don't find
>> any requirements for categories and tags to be a necessary addition to the
>> single.php, as well as the author and the date. What is the rule of thumb
>> here?
>>
>> 2) Themes usually support image captions and threaded comments. Is a theme
>> not approved if image captions are with standard formatting or threaded
>> comments are not indented?
>>
>> 3) When theme author has replaced some code such as pagination or
>> commenting with a custom code, is it necessary a bad practice or it depends
>> on the final application?
>>
>> 4) Are there any good plugins for verification beyond the three listed in
>> the guidelines?
>>
>> It's hard for me for some clauses to differ the "unacceptable" and "good
>> to have" when I can't strictly read some theme review points as rules.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Mario Peshev
>> freelance software developer/trainer
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/mpeshev
>> http://peshev.net/blog
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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