Me personally, I'd have the sidebar there, but hidden by default and then have it set to only show if someone drops some widgets in it. The thing is users will find a theme that closest matches what they intend to do and what they intend it to look like, but generally won't use a theme exactly as the developer intended.<br>
<br>I love minimalist, but you know day 1 and every day after it's release people are going to be complaining "<i>Where's the sidebar! Your theme is broken dude!</i>" Even if you explicitly explain in advance "<i>This is a unique minimalist and and sidebar-less, content-driven theme.</i>"<br>
<br>I'm sure you figured as much though already.<br clear="all"><br><br>Bryan Phillip Hadaway<br>
<div><span style="font-size:13.3px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="margin:0pt 0pt 8px"><p style="margin:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(46,45,46)"> <br> Web & Graphic Designer<br>
<a href="http://calmestghost.com/" target="_blank">calmestghost.com</a><br> <a href="mailto:bhadaway@gmail.com" target="_blank">bhadaway@gmail.com</a></span></p><p style="margin:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(46,45,46)"><br>
<b>Socialize:</b></span> <span style="font-size:13.3px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/calmestghost" target="_blank">Facebook</a> |</span><span style="font-size:13.3px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <a href="http://twitter.com/calmestghost" target="_blank">Twitter</a> </span><span style="font-size:13.3px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">| </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/calmestghost" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://plus.google.com/104582075016689917593" target="_blank">Google+</a></p>
</div></span></div>
<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Chip Bennett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chip@chipbennett.net" target="_blank">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">
My initial thought is that dynamic sidebar content - either as a traditional "sidebar", or in the footer - is *expected* end-user functionality for Themes, and as such should be required.<div><br></div><div>At the very least, it makes sense to me that the functionality be included as *required* in the guidelines. Themes that have valid reasons for omitting this functionality can still request an exception.</div>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<div><br></div><div>Chip</div></font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 3:48 PM, Justin Tadlock <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:justin@justintadlock.com" target="_blank">justin@justintadlock.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I've been thinking about the requirement for dynamic sidebars for a while.<br>
<a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review#Theme_Features" target="_blank">http://codex.wordpress.org/<u></u>Theme_Review#Theme_Features</a><br>
<br>
For the most themes, this makes sense. If your theme has sidebars (most do), use the functions in place to do so.<br>
<br>
Right now, I'm building a minimalistic blogging theme that focuses solely on the content. But, I'm undecided if I want to add sidebars. If anything, the theme would support a sidebar in the footer area. It just depends on whether it fits into the design.<br>
<br>
I think this is one of those times where an exception would be okay. But, I'd like to just get everyone's thoughts on it beforehand.<br>
<br>
You can follow the development of the theme here (it's a long way from being ready):<br>
<a href="https://github.com/justintadlock/just-me" target="_blank">https://github.com/<u></u>justintadlock/just-me</a><br>
______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.<u></u>wordpress.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/<u></u>mailman/listinfo/theme-<u></u>reviewers</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>
</div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br>