<blockquote style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 6.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><i><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The idea of "adoption" is for the benefit of *end users*, who would have
a seamless upgrade experience from the old version of the previously
abandoned Theme, to the updated version post-adoption.</span><br></i></blockquote><br>This would still be possible...but with the added benefit of being able to inform the user that it's not from the original source. Instead of "click here to upgrade your Theme," it would say "your Theme was retired, but click here to switch to a newer Theme that is compatible with the one you're using."<br>
<br><br><br><blockquote style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 6.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class="gmail_quote"><i>The Theme upgrade process deals only with Theme name/slug...<br>
</i></blockquote><br>I'm not sure what you mean by this. Or I guess I should say: I don't know how the update notices are pushed out to users from WordPress.org. I'm assuming that interface can accommodate fork updates without too much modification. Is that incorrect?<br>
<br><br><br><blockquote style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 6.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class="gmail_quote"><i>Properly attributed Themes - both originals and forks - wouldn't need
any additional header tags in order to indicate the original:fork
relationship, because that relationship would be indicated clearly by
the copyright/attribution notice.<br></i></blockquote><br>Problems:<br><br>1. The copyright/attribution notice does not have a standardized format, so machine-readability would be a challenge.<br>2. There isn't a 1:1 relationship between authors and Themes. Using attribution would fail in instances where one author has created 2 or more Themes.<br>
<br>Regarding the GPL, the license encourages openness and freedom, but it also requires proper attribution. Thus, even if "same Theme, different author" is convenient for WordPress.org's upgrade system, the GPL--or copyright law in general--considers it "different Theme, different author." Consequently, the pre-adoption source code would still need to be provided as a separate work.<br>
<br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 8:20 PM, Chip Bennett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chip@chipbennett.net">chip@chipbennett.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
The idea of "adoption" is for the benefit of *end users*, who would have a seamless upgrade experience from the old version of the previously abandoned Theme, to the updated version post-adoption.<div><br></div>
<div>
The GPL poses no issues or problems whatsoever with "adoption"; if anything, the GPL actually facilitates the concept, because it permits modification and redistribution of the code. Bear in mind: the GPL deals with *copyright*, not *trademark*. The Theme upgrade process deals only with Theme name/slug, and as such would be a *trademark* question rather than a *copyright* question.</div>
<div><br></div><div>But I wholeheartedly agree that if the original developer indicates that he does not want the Theme to be "adopted", then as the trademark owner, that decision should be respected.</div><div>
<br></div><div>Themes can be forked right now; no changes needed. While I'm all in favor of making a transition as easy as possible, whatever changes that could be made to the infrastructure in order to tie the *fork* to the *original*, none of those changes would benefit those who need it most: i.e. those who are using the *original* version of the obsolete Theme.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Properly attributed Themes - both originals and forks - wouldn't need any additional header tags in order to indicate the original:fork relationship, because that relationship would be indicated clearly by the copyright/attribution notice.</div>
<div><br></div><font color="#888888"><div>Chip</div></font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Darren Slatten <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:darrenslatten@gmail.com" target="_blank">darrenslatten@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Theme adoption seems like it could raise issues with the GPL, regarding the need to clearly distinguish between original code and post-adoption code. I'm guessing not too many Theme developers would appreciate having their name/attribution diluted by the adoption process. Perhaps a better solution would be to allow "forking" a Theme. Details and benefits would be something like this:<br>
<br><ul><li>Add a new style.css key/value pair to define a "Fork of: {$retired_theme_name}" relationship.</li><li>A retired Theme would keep its own attribution and statistics data.</li><li>New Theme would be named something different and effectively treated as an independent Theme (i.e., a retired Theme could be forked by more than one developer).</li>
<li>The "Fork of:" data could be used to trigger a separate kind of update notice--one that makes the distinction between a simple update and a "Under New Management!" update.</li><li>Retired Themes could still be resumed by original authors, even if the Theme has been dormant for awhile (and forked in that time).</li>
<li>WordPress.org could provide aggregate statistics on original+fork downloads.</li><li>Themes could be forked whether they're retired or not.<br></li><li>Users could get a better understanding of how a certain Theme will function (e.g., I'd rather download a Twenty Eleven fork than a Classic fork).</li>
<li>Users could filter their Theme search by origin.<br></li></ul><br>Just throwing some ideas out here...<br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div>On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Vicky Arulsingam <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vicky.arulsingam@gmail.com" target="_blank">vicky.arulsingam@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div><div><div></div><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I like this idea a lot, especially allowing other developers to adopt<br>
a theme and bring it up to WP standards.<br>
<br>
Should the original theme author be contacted about their outdated<br>
theme or is it considered forfeit especially since a theme hasn't been<br>
updated in 2 years<br>
<div><div></div><div><br>
On 7/26/11, Edward Caissie <<a href="mailto:edward.caissie@gmail.com" target="_blank">edward.caissie@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> The basic premise I have always tried to champion is moving the "older"<br>
> themes into a secondary repository so they are not lost but are obviously<br>
> shown as "out-of-date"<br>
><br>
> There are many older themes that can be easily brought up to current<br>
> standards but the original author's are no longer interested in updating<br>
> and/or involved with WordPress.<br>
><br>
> I would like to see these themes simply moved, then after another arbitrary<br>
> time limit made available to be adopted by a new author. I have put forward<br>
> this idea at least once before and still see it as having a great deal of<br>
> potential (aside from all necessary changes to the repository to make it<br>
> work).<br>
><br>
><br>
> Cais.<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 4:15 PM, Claude Needham <<a href="mailto:gxxaxx@gmail.com" target="_blank">gxxaxx@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 1:11 PM, Angelo Bertolli<br>
>> <<a href="mailto:angelo.bertolli@gmail.com" target="_blank">angelo.bertolli@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> > Why not just have a "works with version X" selection for users like on<br>
>> > the plugin side? Then the users could decide what was working, and<br>
>> > things could be pruned accordingly.<br>
>> ><br>
>> If a theme seriously does not work with the current version of<br>
>> wordpress, it should be retired.<br>
>> I am assuming that we are trying to encourage people to work with the<br>
>> latest release that they can.<br>
>><br>
>> I have been in situations where a plugin that I relied upon had not<br>
>> been updated yet. (A shopping cart).<br>
>> But if I need an old obsolete theme -- I probably already have it<br>
>> installed on my site.<br>
>><br>
>> If I am theme hunting, it would be very disappointing to dl a theme<br>
>> from wporg that is obsolete under the most current core.<br>
>><br>
>> Just my thoughts,<br>
>> Claude Needham<br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
>> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
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>><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div>--<br>
-----<br>
<font color="#888888">Vicky Arulsingam<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div></div></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><font color="#888888">Darren Slatten<br><br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Darren Slatten<br><br>