[theme-reviewers] Theme Review Codex Page: Addressing Recent Feedback

[Otto]

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:
> Likewise with Widgets, we should have a wider discussion regarding whether
> or not it should be removed. My initial take is that it is all manageable by
> the end user, and additional feed types can be added via plugin (or the
> Theme), and implementing the default feed support doesn't detract.
> ...
> It might be instructive to get some examples of some of these
> special-purpose Themes. The only one I've seen so far - a "Coming Soon"
> Theme, is (as Frumph pointed out) something that can be managed via Plugin,
> using any Theme.

I think this is rather beside the point. I use a "coming soon" theme
on a few sites. It's handy.

The fact of the matter is that themes and plugins are not that
different. I can make a plugin which redirects a couple of hooks and
completely bypasses the theme system to replace it with a theme in the
plugin directory. Big deal. It doesn't make any different whether it's
a theme or a plugin, except that themes tend to be about looks and
plugins tend to be about function.

"Tend" being the operative word there. If I am looking to put a comic
strip system on my blog, I'm going to look for a theme that makes it
easy for me to do that, because comic strips are very visual.

Whether something should be a theme or a plugin is really a judgement
call, and not everybody has the same judgement. If somebody makes a
special purpose theme, then the purpose of the theme should be taken
into account. A coming soon theme, for example, needs no feeds, no
comments, no post loop. But it's still perfectly valid to do it as a
theme and not as a plugin.

-Otto