[theme-reviewers] Theme Scan Failing

Fri Dec 3 06:42:00 UTC 2010

Otto,
Method 1 is not better than Method 2 if a lot of your CSS is dynamic, as is
the case with most themes that offer a lot of styling options. In such a
case using Method 1 you would be repeatedly running a lot of PHP calls to
dump the same CSS each time into your HTML. This is really inefficient
particularly in contrast to one extra HTTP request to get a pre-generated
file. Hence it is not something that can be shoved aside by saying "get over
it" - Method 2 does improve caching performance significantly on several
occasions.

Sayontan.

On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 10:13 AM, Otto <otto at ottodestruct.com> wrote:

> Ugh. Okay, this may be a bit long winded.
>
> For the cases where you're creating dynamic CSS, then there is one
> correct way to do it, and several incorrect ways to do it. Let's go
> over the possibilities.
>
> Method 1: Insert the dynamic CSS directly into the HTML using the wp_head
> call.
>
> Method 2: Write dynamic CSS to a file, link to the file in the head.
>
> Method 3: Hook into the template-loader or init to create CSS output based
> on
> a special GET variable you define.
>
> Method 4: Style.php, which is linked to from the head, and outputs
> dynamic css. Usually this has to include wp-load.
>
>
> I listed those in that order because they go from "best" to "worst".
> I'll explain why now. :)
>
> Method 1 has the lowest server impact. When you make the call to get
> the page, it creates the page and outputs all the dynamic stuff in one
> shot. Some people find the CSS in the html to be aesthetically
> displeasing, but the fact of the matter is that this is the fastest,
> simplest, and best way to do it.
>
> Method 2 has a problem in that you're doing file writing from the
> theme. This is bad because you cannot guarantee that you have
> permissions to even write files. Assuming you try to write them to the
> uploads folder, then part of your theme is now outside the theme
> directory, which is confusing. Also, by including the CSS as a
> separate file, you're creating another call to the server, which even
> Google Webmaster Tools will tell you is a thing to avoid.
>
> Method 3 is the same as method 2, except now instead of writing the
> file, you make a call to http://example.com/?css=whatever and then
> your code intercepts that and produces the CSS on-the-fly, via
> whatever means, then exits. This avoids the file writing problem, but
> now it's not
> only making an extra server call, but it's also loading all of
> WordPress up again, which creates a higher server CPU impact.
>
> Method 4 is the same as method 3, basically, except that you're
> referencing some PHP file directly, which now has to a) find wp-load,
> b) load WordPress, and c) produce the resulting CSS output. Worst of
> all cases: two calls to the server, WordPress loads twice, and you're
> now having to search around to figure out how to load WordPress again
> just so you can access the database.
>
>
> So the end statement here is to always use method 1. Okay, so you find
> CSS in the HTML header code to be unpleasant. My advice: get over it.
> Every other way of doing things not only requires an extra HTTP
> request to the server, but most of them also require a whole lot of
> extra PHP processing. Think about it this way: You've already got
> WordPress loaded up to generate the page. The most sensible thing to
> do is to go ahead and generate the dynamic part of the CSS right now
> as well. Just make that dynamic part as small as possible. Minify it
> into one-line if you want.
>
> Note that WordPress itself uses method 1 for the custom background
> image and custom header image stuff. It does it this way because it's
> the best way to do it.
>
> -Otto
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Simon Prosser <pross at pross.org.uk> wrote:
> > There is a more sensible way to do this. Use a style.php file that
> > prints your custom css
> > with text/css header and a far future expires, then the browser will
> > cache it locally.
> >
> > My theme [JustCSS] uses this to cache the css.
> > https://github.com/Pross/JustCSS
> >
> > On 2 December 2010 17:46, Sayontan Sinha <sayontan at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> What about instances of caching? E.g. I have a lot of look and feel
> options
> >> that can be set by the user. However if you attempt to print them out as
> >> dynamic CSS on the fly it creates extra server load, not to mention an
> ugly
> >> lot of CSS before the content in the page's source. Instead the CSS is
> saved
> >> as a local file at the time of saving the options and then that file is
> >> linked in the source.
> >>
> >> On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 8:50 AM, Otto <otto at ottodestruct.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 3:02 AM, Sayontan Sinha <sayontan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > I am curious as to what qualifies as a better way of doing things.
> E.g.
> >>> > I
> >>> > have code where depending on selections certain stylesheets are
> grouped
> >>> > together, then either they are compressed and/or minified.
> >>>
> >>> See, that sounds awfully functional to me. Why would you want the
> >>> theme to be doing that?
> >>>
> >>> A theme is supposed to describe how the site looks, not how the site
> >>> works. Sure, for custom jobs, we all do it and put this sort of thing
> >>> in the theme, but remember that the directory is supposed to hold
> >>> themes to be used for public consumption. Anybody can use them.
> >>>
> >>> So doesn't it make a bit more sense to make this sort of
> >>> compression/minification more generic, able to apply to any theme, and
> >>> then to put it in a plugin?
> >>>
> >>> Also, look into wp_enqueue_style, which is capable of minification and
> >>> combining css files.
> >>>
> >>> -Otto
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> theme-reviewers mailing list
> >>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
> >>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Sayontan Sinha
> >> http://mynethome.net | http://mynethome.net/blog
> >> --
> >> Beating Australia in Cricket is like killing a celebrity. The death gets
> >> more coverage than the crime.
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> theme-reviewers mailing list
> >> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
> >> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > My Blog: http://www.pross.org.uk/
> > Plugins : http://www.pross.org.uk/plugins/
> > Themes: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/profile/pross
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
> >
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>

-- 
Sayontan Sinha
http://mynethome.net | http://mynethome.net/blog
--
Beating Australia in Cricket is like killing a celebrity. The death gets
more coverage than the crime.
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