[theme-reviewers] Parent / Child Theme Issues

[Simon Prosser]

On 07/07/2010 18:22, Bruce Wampler wrote:
>  There are indeed a bunch of issues with child themes.
> 
> I like Chip Bennet's suggestion of limiting approved child themes to
> specific "recent" or "approved" parents.
> 
> Of course, since all themes approved here must be GPL, any parent
> must remain available to meet the license. Given that, the best solution
> for child themes may remain the one I used for 2010 Weaver - include
> the source for the parent with the child theme. Given the rules followed
> when running a child theme, it is very easy to "simulate" this simply by
> renaming the parent's functions.php and style.css, then include them
> explicitly from the child's equivalents, and then keeping or replacing
> other parent files as needed. There are some issues with the translation
> directory that might complicate this (can there be two translation
> directories - parent theme + child theme - in the same theme directory?).
> 
> This approach also solves the version compatibility issue - if there is
> a new parent, is the child still compatible with it? This is a real issue.
> Right before the final WP 3 release, there was a change to Twenty Ten
> that broke my child, so it is likely to happen with other new releases.
> 
> But maybe a two tier approach: real child themes for Twenty Ten, etc.,
> and pseudo-child themes that include the parent for recently approved
> parent themes.
> 
> And of course, there is still the feature check - is it possible to check
> for Gravatar support (for example) in the parent, and then assume
> the child thus has it, too?
> 
> Given my experience with 2010 Weaver, I think using the pseudo-child
> theme approach might avoid the most long term issues. It really isn't
> that much extra effort for the theme author. Creating some official
> guidelines on the policy, the reasons behind it, and guidelines for
> creating the pseudo-child would help clarify for all.
> 
I like the idea of child themes too, I think we should have an
'approved' list. The uploader scripts could check the archives
stylesheet to make sure the parent is on the approved list.
I think the 'approved' list should also be short and the themes on it be
very thoroughly checked.

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