[theme-reviewers] A few issues to look out for
Sayontan Sinha
sayontan at gmail.com
Wed Apr 27 03:16:56 UTC 2011
In a hurry to hit "send" I forgot to close the statements. But you get the
gist, I hope.
On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 8:15 PM, Sayontan Sinha <sayontan at gmail.com> wrote:
> In your code you have this:
>
> $comments_by_type = $wp_query->comments_by_type;
>
> That is going to return an array with the comment_type as the key and the
> comments as the value. This will include custom comment types.
>
> So, if you are iterating over this:
> foreach ($comments_by_type as $comment_type => $comments) {
> switch ($comment_type) {
> case 'comment':
> // comment processing, including wp_list_comments
> break;
> case 'trackback':
> // trackback processing, including wp_list_comments
> break;
> case 'pingback':
> // pingback processing, including wp_list_comments
> break;
> default:
> wp_list_comments('type' => $comment_type); // you are
> simply passing the $comment_type to it.
> break;
>
> }
> }
>
> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 8:09 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>
>> Here's an example of my use case:
>> https://github.com/chipbennett/oenology/blob/master/comments.php
>>
>> (And consider that the Guidelines currently *suggest* separating pings
>> from comments.)
>>
>> My primary issue is with this assertion:
>>
>> how will this be displayed if a theme is deliberately overwriting core
>> functionality and not showing the output of alternate comment types?
>>
>>
>> Passing a valid argument to a core function is not "overwriting core
>> functionality". Those arbitrary, "alternate" comment types *aren't part of
>> core*. Put bluntly: *as a matter of official Theme review, I don't care
>> about any non-core comment types, including "tweetback"*.
>>
>> Again: if a Plugin adds a custom comment type, then the *Plugin* is
>> responsible for either hooking that custom content into the Theme, or else
>> for providing instructions to the end user for how to incorporate that
>> custom content. (Yes, it might mean instructing the user to add a call to
>> wp_list_comments( 'type=tweetback' ). I see no problem with that.)
>>
>> I don't agree that WordPress "handles it beautifully", because,
>> aesthetically speaking, I think that pings mixed in with comments looks
>> utterly horrid. Seeing "tweetbacks" mixed in with comments AND pings would
>> look even worse.
>>
>> On the other hand: I do agree with you that all code should be added
>> deliberately. Copy/pasting TwentyTen's comments callback should be done
>> deliberately. And we should absolutely be checking such a Theme's
>> comment-list output, to ensure that it is appropriate - and wherever
>> possible, helping to educate Theme developers on the proper usage and
>> powerful potential of implementing such custom callbacks. Such effort will
>> only be to the benefit of end users.
>>
>> Chip
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 9:50 PM, Justin Tadlock <justin at justintadlock.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> My question is: If a plugin adds a custom comment type (for example,
>>> Facebook comments, tweetbacks, or something of the sort), how will this be
>>> displayed if a theme is deliberately overwriting core functionality and not
>>> showing the output of alternate comment types?
>>>
>>> By default, WordPress handles this beautifully. It's only when a theme
>>> overwrites this functionality that it breaks.
>>>
>>> The fix is really quite simple for most themes. Just create a default
>>> case in that copy-pasted switch statement used in about 90% of the themes
>>> based off TwentyTen's comment system.
>>>
>>> I'm not suggesting we make a new guideline here. I'm just suggesting we
>>> be on the lookout for this in themes where devs just copy/paste comment
>>> callback functions without giving it much thought. I could certainly
>>> understand an intentional design choice to exclude custom comment types.
>>> Whatever we decide, I'll be sure to continue educating theme authors on this
>>> because it is a legitimate problem that themes create for plugin authors.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4/26/2011 9:36 PM, Chip Bennett wrote:
>>>
>>> If a Theme is providing callback output for 'comment', 'pingback', and
>>> 'trackback', then it IS handling every core comment type; thus, I disagree
>>> that a Theme is not "handling every scenario that core handles by default".
>>> A Theme cannot know what a Plugin might possibly hook into, or what content
>>> it might provide.
>>>
>>> Now, if a Theme provided callback functions for only 'comment' comment
>>> types, but not for 'pings' (or if it accounted for 'trackback' but not
>>> 'pingback', or something similar), then I would agree.
>>>
>>> One of the most common features is for a Theme to separate comments
>>> form pings. That very act of separation - however accomplished - would
>>> require explicitly declaring 'comment' and 'pings' comment types. Thus, it
>>> would not be using the 'all' comment type. And thus, such Themes would no
>>> longer be flexible enough to handle some non-core comment type added by a
>>> Plugin.
>>>
>>> Or am I missing something?
>>>
>>> Chip
>>>
>>> On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Justin Tadlock <
>>> justin at justintadlock.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I probably didn't explain myself well enough in the first email.
>>>>
>>>> We're not looking at the "type" parameter of wp_list_comments(). We're
>>>> looking at the "callback" parameter here. This is where a theme is
>>>> overriding core functionality. If the theme didn't override this
>>>> functionality with a custom function, WordPress would display other comment
>>>> types by default.
>>>>
>>>> A plugin cannot be responsible for incorporating custom comment types if
>>>> a theme is purposely not allowing comments of a custom type to show.
>>>> There's no hook to allow a plugin to override what a theme is doing there.
>>>> Even if there was a hook there, this would be a major problem if a plugin
>>>> was changing how a theme handled the display of comments.
>>>>
>>>> What's happening here is themes are overriding core functionality
>>>> without handling every scenario that core handles by default.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 4/26/2011 3:18 PM, Chip Bennett wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Quite possibly. But it is not the responsibility of Themes to account
>>>> for content added by Plugins.
>>>>
>>>> I see no reason to require Themes to support a non-core 'tweetback'
>>>> comment-type. If a Plugin adds this comment-type, then the Plugin should be
>>>> responsible for incorporating it.
>>>>
>>>> Chip
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 3:14 PM, Sayontan Sinha <sayontan at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Chip,
>>>>> I believe Justin is referring to the fact that plugins can add the type
>>>>> "tweetback". If that is the case, then a theme that is explicitly checking
>>>>> only for "comment", "pingback" and "trackback" is missing out on the ones
>>>>> that don't fall into these buckets, i.e. it is missing a catch-all for types
>>>>> introduced by plugins.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sayontan.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 12:49 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I can't find that 'tweetback' is a core comment type.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> According to the Codex<http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_list_comments>,
>>>>>> the valid types are: 'all', 'comment', 'trackback', 'pingback', or
>>>>>> 'pings'
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, if a Theme accounts for these types, that should be sufficient.
>>>>>> For instance, if a Theme accounts for 'comments' and 'pings', all bases are
>>>>>> covered.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Chip
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 2:39 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hmm... I don't think I've yet seen a Theme that explicitly handles
>>>>>>> tweetbacks. (Honestly, I didn't even realize such a comment type existed.)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Chip
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 2:16 PM, Justin Tadlock <
>>>>>>> justin at justintadlock.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Here's a few things we should be on the lookout for when reviewing
>>>>>>>> themes that I thought I'd bring up.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The use of the_post_thumbnail() with the_content() can sometimes be
>>>>>>>> a problem. If a user places the image within the post content (at the
>>>>>>>> beginning of the post) and sets the same image as the "feature image," it
>>>>>>>> creates a duplicate image issue. Some themes' designs are meant to handle
>>>>>>>> this while others aren't.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Some themes have a comments callback function where they don't
>>>>>>>> recognize comment types other than 'comment', 'pingback', and 'trackback'.
>>>>>>>> This is also the case in the TwentyTen theme. If you look at its switch
>>>>>>>> statement, you'll notice it doesn't give a 'default' case. It should be
>>>>>>>> corrected to handle all comment types (e.g., tweetbacks).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Loading JS and CSS on all pages of the admin. Sometimes, themes
>>>>>>>> hook their theme settings page JavaScript and Stylesheet to the 'admin_init'
>>>>>>>> hook or something similar. This should only be loaded on the the theme
>>>>>>>> settings page. If using the add_theme_page() function, a hook is created
>>>>>>>> just for that page. A better hook would probably be
>>>>>>>> 'load-appearance_page_$pagename'.
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>>>>>>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>>>>>>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> theme-reviewers mailing listtheme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.orghttp://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> theme-reviewers mailing listtheme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.orghttp://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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.
>
>
--
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.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wordpress.org/pipermail/theme-reviewers/attachments/20110426/057557eb/attachment-0001.htm>
More information about the theme-reviewers
mailing list