[theme-reviewers] Shortcodes

Fri Feb 17 00:43:34 UTC 2012

I am with Emil on this one. When shortcodes come with the theme, unless the
theme author has put in a UI for insertion of a shortcode, the user makes
use of them in full recognition of the fact that the shortcode is custom to
the theme and that if the user switches themes these will have to be
accounted for explicitly. In other words, the use of a shortcode is a
conscious acknowledgement by the users that they are writing content
specifically tailored for the theme. In that sense the lock-in is the same
that you get with a plugin: you install a plugin, then start using its
shortcodes, and when a few months later the developer stops supporting the
plugin, you are locked in. Changing plugins at that point is not going to
help users.

If standards are being considered, I would like to propose the following:

   1. To minimize conflicts and to make the notion of a lock-in more
   explicit, theme authors can use the theme slug as a prefix for their
   shortcode, e.g. [twentyeleven_current_year]. That way if there is a plugin
   that explicitly offers [current_year] as a shortcode, there will be no
   scope for a conflict.
   2. If the theme offers a shortcode without a prefix, there can be an
   option to disable the same, so that a plugin can override it.
   3. Every shortcode bundled with a theme can be noted in the readme.txt
   file

By mandating themes to not include shortcodes we will be running into a
dangerous situation. There are themes with shortcodes whose users run in
hundreds of thousands, and if from one release to another the shortcodes
get removed, users will have a situation much worse than a lock-in.

Sayontan.

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:13 PM, Emil Uzelac <emil at themeid.com> wrote:

> Absolutely, there can be a guidelines which I think is this
> http://codex.wordpress.org/Shortcode_API. It's safe to say that we're
> wasting too much time on something so simple. If the shortcodes are by
> http://codex.wordpress.org/Shortcode_API it should be ok and if they're
> not author can either remove them or comply with the API. If we need to
> focus on more simpler stuff we could. Google Maps, Charts etc should be
> accepted, well they already are in repository. Holding back for
> something useful is huge minus for us and users as well.
>
>
> Emil
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 6:00 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>
>> I disagree; I see no reason that we should be unable to establish
>> guidelines regarding content creation by Themes.
>>
>> The purpose of Themes is to *present* content. *Creation* of content is
>> not a legitimate purpose for a publicly distributed Theme. On the other
>> hand, one legitimate purpose of a Plugin very well may be to *create*
>> content. Such use of a Plugin isn't "lock-in" in the same way that similar
>> content-creation in a Theme would be "lock-in", because the user can switch
>> among all Themes that properly *present* the content *created* by the
>> Plugin.
>>
>> This discussion correlates quite closely to our earlier discussions
>> regarding custom post types in Themes. IIRC, the general outcome of that
>> discussion is that, as a general rule, CPTs are Plugin Territory, but
>> exceptions could be made where appropriate. It makes sense to me to
>> approach shortcodes in the same way.
>>
>> Chip
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 5:51 PM, Emil Uzelac <emil at themeid.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I understand that, but we can't really dictate shortcode integration nor
>>> usage by users can we? Potential problem could be even if you're using this
>>> as the plugin, same lock-in effect. Sure they can delete the plugin,
>>> however user can switch the Theme as well. This is the area where it's up
>>> to authors to integrate and for users to use. And us to check if they're
>>> properly done. No more, no less :)
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 5:27 PM, Justin Tadlock <
>>> justin at justintadlock.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  Remember that shortcodes are sometimes added for reasons other than
>>>> being placed in post content.  It's when the shortcode's purpose is to be
>>>> placed in post content that it becomes problematic, causing the lock-in
>>>> effect.
>>>>
>>>> For example, most of my themes have some simple shortcodes for
>>>> outputting footer credit/copyright related stuff in a theme setting.  One
>>>> for getting the current year is actually one of them.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2/16/2012 5:15 PM, Emil Uzelac wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Agreed with the Chip on a plugin territory, however if the shortcodes
>>>> are properly implemented it should not be holding down the approval. I
>>>> would not fail a Theme for shortcode usage, if everything else including
>>>> this checks out.
>>>>
>>>>  Emil
>>>>
>>>>  On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:35 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> As with (almost) every guideline: exceptions are allowed, on a
>>>>> case-by-case basis.  So, it's certainly up for discussion. :)
>>>>>
>>>>>  Chip
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:31 PM, Mario Peshev <mario at peshev.net>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Does it apply for very serious and powerful themes (like lite version
>>>>>> of premium themes that ask for submission in WPORG repo)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have a similar case right now, very powerful portfolio theme with a
>>>>>> custom post type that asks for permission. Does it stand a chance?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mario Peshev
>>>>>> Training and Consulting Services @ DevriX
>>>>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/mpeshev
>>>>>> http://devrix.com
>>>>>> http://peshev.net/blog
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 12:29 AM, George Mamadashvili <
>>>>>> georgemamadashvili at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm 100% agree with that, but can we not-approves theme by this
>>>>>>> resolution? and suggest author to remove them for the next release?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 2:14 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Such shortcodes are Plugin territory. They create content, and
>>>>>>>> represent a means of Theme lock-in.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  Chip
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>  On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 4:11 PM, George Mamadashvili <
>>>>>>>> georgemamadashvili at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Do we have any rules about using shortcodes in theme? This theme
>>>>>>>>> registers 19, they've shortcode for every simple thing like - get current
>>>>>>>>> year.
>>>>>>>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
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-- 
Sayontan Sinha
http://mynethome.net | http://mynethome.net/blog
--
Beating Australia in Cricket is like killing a celebrity. The death gets
more coverage than the crime.
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