Fwd: [wp-hackers] Theme and Plugin Integration

[Graeme Lennon]

This may be a good idea for all sorts of reasons -- I haven't worked it 
all through in my head yet -- but I can't help but wonder, if you've got 
really good functionality in mind, why not make it a plugin to begin 
with? Then people who wanted the feature, but preferred to run another 
theme, could still have it.

I just really don't see the point of having themes-that-act-as-plugins. 
Have your theme, and if you've got a cool idea, have a plugin, too! That 
way everyone is happy. :)

g.

Robert Deaton wrote:
> My point in this whole thread was not, as some people on IRC have taken 
> it to be, a way for theme developers to bundle all the plugins they want 
> with their theme and make it completely dependent on certain plugins. I 
> should have never said the words "bundle" and "plugins" in the same 
> sentence. Instead, I just wish there was a way for theme developers to 
> have one file that is called at plugin time, that would simply do some 
> of the add_action and add_filter that couldn't be done at the time that 
> themes are loaded. My personal intention with this was going to be to 
> provide some custom features and make a really cool theme that would be 
> completely customizable via the wordpress administration interface, but 
> I don't want to have to request that users install and activate a plugin 
> at the same time. The other issues should probably be brought up in 
> another thread.
> 
> Sorry Ryan, accidentally only replied to you, *curses reply-to: headers*
> 
> One more try, gmail sent it to the wrong hackers address. *wishes he 
> could make it forget hackers at wordpress.org*
> 
> 
> On Apr 3, 2005 8:24 PM, *Ryan Duff* <ryan at ryanduff.net 
> <mailto:ryan at ryanduff.net>> wrote:
> 
>     Robert Deaton wrote:
>>  But you can't have functionality without building it into the
>     style. If
>>  theme authors didn't include do_action statements, you wouldn't be
>     able
>>  to add any functionality. The WordPress themes are not based around a
>>  template, and thus give you the greatest possible freedom, and a
>>  side-effect is that some theme developers, because they are
>     ignorant of
>>  what happens behind the scenes, leave some things that are
>     essential to
>>  add functionality out of their themes.
> 
>     So it all goes back to the theme developers being ignorant. So why not
>     give theme developers a guide based on
>     http://boren.nu/archives/2004/11/10/anatomy-of-a-wordpress-theme/
>     and a standard set of template tags that *should* be included for normal
>     functionality.
> 
>>  Plugin developers are having a hell of a time supporting their plugins
>>  now because theme developers leave actions out, mix everything around,
>>  and there's no longer a standard way of doing things. Thus, if we can
>>  resort to a combination of style and functionality, we no longer
>     have to
>>  worry about it.
> 
>     Here's another off the wall bug just reported dealing with my plugin and
>     somebody elses theme...
> 
>     http://dev.wp-plugins.org/ticket/130
> 
>     I can't say I can duplicate it because I use the default kubrick
>     template on my sandbox which includes the wp_list_pages() template tag.
>     See the mess we're in? Worst part is, its not just me. There are plenty
>     of others experiencing the same things I am.
> 
>     --
>     Ryan Duff
>     http://ryanduff.net
>     AIM: ryancduff
>     irc.freenode.net <http://irc.freenode.net> #wordpress
> 
>     --
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>     Date: on 04 April 2005 at 01:22:54 UTC
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>     wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com <mailto:wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com>
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> --Robert Deaton
> http://somethingunpredictable.com
> 
> 
> -- 
> --Robert Deaton
> http://somethingunpredictable.com
> 
> 
> -- 
> --Robert Deaton
> http://somethingunpredictable.com
> 
> 
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