[theme-reviewers] Discussion on suspension of old themes in the extend/themes

[Chip Bennett]

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 10:28 AM, Philip M. Hofer (Frumph) <
philip at frumph.net> wrote:

> After a lengthy discussion with Cais in the #wp-themes we've come to a
> conclusion that a 2 revision suspension would not be entirely justified and
> would harshly impact the themes available that still will work with the 3.0
> series albiet even if using deprecated and non standard code.
>

I'm not entirely sure I understand this reasoning. "Suspending" a Theme in
the repository would have no impact on any current users. It would merely
prevent the Theme from being downloaded by a *new* user.

Why would we want users downloading Themes that are clearly obsolete, and
potentially buggy - if not security-vulnerable?


>
> We've thought about it and discussed the functionality of the wordpress
> themes and what they do and what revision base at this time would be best to
> spend anything of it and less then.
>
> Anything from december 2008 and before should be suspended for 'old and
> needs upgraded' themes, that is the release time when 2.7 came out, 2.7 was
> the the release that really gave themes something more then previous
> revisions that match more closely with with what 'works' in a theme.   It
> was in essence really 2.8, but 2.7 was the start of it.  So anything
> previous to the 2.7 release really can be considered old and needing
> updated.
>
> Then on the 3.1 release, do the 2.8 as the base and so on.
>

That's probably fair, for a first-pass effort.

At some point, though, we probably need to tighten the leash a bit. Giving
Theme developers 2 release cycles (which normally translates to 10 months to
a year) should be sufficient time to update an actively supported Theme, no?


>
> The concern is the 'warning' to developers that when it will be happening
> and enough word out to them that it will be happening.  Giving ample time
> for developers who might want to 'rescue' old themes from the repository to
> revive them.
>
> Which brings up two thoughts, information needed to change ownership of
> said themes and ample time for developers to revive them.   And information
> theme developers that it's going to be happening.
>
> Me? I don't care, suspend em, if they want them back up, they resubmit
> them.
>
>

Exactly. We want actively supported Themes in the repository, right? If so,
then we need to hold developers accountable to providing  a modicum of
active support: to wit, keeping the Theme updated with current functionality
and replacing deprecated functions.


> Cais wants mass emails done, however collectively finding the authors
> emails would be a chore, let alone the fact that WordPress practically
> *never* mass emails and I doubt that it will ever happen, ever.  So
> alternatives need to be addressed as the following:
>
> So what's the minimal that should be done?
>
> A stickied post on the theme developement forum and a codex entry, in the
> most relevant places.
>
> What would be optimal?
>
> A post by Matt or the developers blog that gets seen in the RSS feed list
> of all wordpress sites, with the minimal post in the forum and codex entry
> information.
>
> The idea' is to not be 'harsh' about the suspension of said themes, hence
> to backtrack to the pre 2.7 release, which keeps WordPress in a good light,
> while still giving a couple weeks ample warning.
>

I still like the old "update within one month of the WordPress version
release, or the Theme is suspended" route. In other words, within one month
after WordPress 3.1 comes out, all Themes not updated since the release of
WordPress 2.9 are automatically suspended, until they are updated.

(Of course, if a given WordPress release doesn't incorporate any new
functionality, or newly deprecate any functions, then it could be excluded
from the suspension time frame.)


>
> ------ Side Note:
> Information about how to 'take over' an old theme, i.e. reviving it should
> be noted as well and that all old themes should have their original authors
> contacted then original author of said theme needs to email the repository
> theme admin requesting the ownership change, pretty much how it's already
> being done.
>
> Side effect of the removal/suspension would also be that when they resubmit
> they will be automatically added to the theme trac when resubmit, which is a
> goal that would benefit everyone.
>
> Additonal note: While the GPL Compatibility issue arose with the
> suspensions previously and there were some very vocal people about
> suspending the themes at that time, it was still done regardless of those
> complaints.   It was justified and responsible of the theme repository admin
> to do it.  It is the same with this;  The theme repository has an underlying
> responsibility to the end user to keep the repository up to date and in a
> manageable state to the end user.
>

Agreed; provided that the way it is handled is the absolute best that it can
be. I'm advocating suspending outdated Themes, but I also think that Theme
developers should be given every opportunity to know that the change is
coming, and to know how to avoid Theme suspension.

Communication is key.

Chip
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