[theme-reviewers] Feature slider default links

Thu Aug 9 21:19:48 UTC 2012

The purpose of the "credit link" guideline is to define the only
acceptable, public-facing link that Theme developers may add to Themes.
Consider that guideline a "white list", rather than a "black list"; that
is: except for the footer credit link, Themes are not permitted to add any
public-facing links. Thus, my answer to this question:

I guess the big question at this point is, this has been in this theme for
months, did I violate a rule or do these links need to be changed or
removed?

...would be "yes": these links do not conform to the guidelines, and need
to be removed. And if any other Theme in the repository were found to be
displaying arbitrary, public-facing links, the developer would likewise be
asked to remove those links.

We seem to be at an impasse on this point:

Again, I'm not really sure how to demo that you can link these images to
something without actually linking them to something.

I've suggested three alternatives: home_url(), wordpress.org, and
example.com. For the purpose of demonstrating that a slider image acts as a
link, all three should be equally suitable. I find it hard to believe that
users would require a valid URI in order to understand that the slider
image is linked, and that it is intended to have a custom URL defined.
Thus, I see no reason why "example.com" wouldn't work. Likewise with using
home_url(): I find it hard to believe that a significant number of users
would believe that a slider image link was intended only to link to the
site front page, and that they wouldn't figure out that the site front page
link is used for demonstration/example purposes only. And if all else
fails: there's always "wordpress.org".

Chip

On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 4:01 PM, Trent Lapinski <trent at cyberchimps.com>wrote:

> Chip,
>
> I hear you, it is not that I'm asking for special treatment really, I am
> simply asking for permission to have my feature slider links to somewhere
> since this is a grey area that is not clearly defined.
>
> As a lot of the other people have replied to this have suggested, and even
> when I spoke to Otto about this in person the main issue was with the rule
> regarding the credit footer link.
>
> Since we are not talking about a footer link, and this isn't a credit link
> - it's demoing functionality of a feature slider, this technically isn't
> against any existing review guideline as far as I can tell. I'm not abusing
> these links, and these are absolutely default links and are replaced by the
> user if they wish to use the slider. That makes them temporary in nature,
> and it is how a lot of themes on .org handle default options. Again, I'm
> not really sure how to demo that you can link these images to something
> without actually linking them to something.
>
> This ability to link the slider to a URL is sometimes the deciding factor
> behind why someone will use my theme over another theme, and it is
> important that I be able to demo that functionality.
>
> I guess the big question at this point is, this has been in this theme for
> months, did I violate a rule or do these links need to be changed or
> removed?
>
> --Trent Lapinski
> =============
> CEO of CyberChimps LLC
> trent at cyberchimps.com
> Mobile (714) 904-4280
> Twitter @trentlapinski
> http://CyberChimps.com
>
> On Aug 9, 2012, at 8:13 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net> wrote:
>
> Okay, found the relevant code:
>
> http://themes.svn.wordpress.org/eclipse/1.0.17/includes/classy-options-init.php
>
> These aren't "examples" or "temporary defaults". They are Theme option
> defaults, meaning that until the user changes them, the three slides will
> display public links to the URLs in question.
>
> I see no reason to grant an exception here. You can use home_url(). You
> can use wordpress.org. You can use example.com. You could leave the
> default as an empty string (this latter option being my recommendation).
>
> But facilitating your support queries is not sufficient enough reason to
> grant an exception.
>
> Chip
>
> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 2:13 AM, Trent Lapinski <trent at cyberchimps.com>wrote:
>
>> Wayne,
>>
>> Thanks for your input, thats correct that these are temporary defaults -
>> examples really.
>>
>> I imagine this kind of issue may arise more in the future as I'm seeing a
>> lot more theme authors add temporary defaults to theme options for preview
>> / demo purposes when doing reviews.
>>
>> Wanted to raise this issue to make sure I'm not breaking any rules and
>> open discussion on this topic.
>>
>>   --Trent Lapinski
>> =============
>> CEO of CyberChimps LLC
>> trent at cyberchimps.com
>> Mobile (714) 904-4280
>> Twitter @trentlapinski
>> http://CyberChimps.com <http://cyberchimps.com/>
>>
>> On Aug 8, 2012, at 11:01 PM, CONNOR Wayne and Jill <wayne at dubbo.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Trent I can't see that you need to ask for an exemption.
>>
>> The Credit Links is talking about… 'a public-facing credit link in the
>> Theme footer.'
>>
>> Your link is not a credit, it doesn't even stay as part of the page for
>> very long, it's a temporary placeholder till the user puts their own link
>> in. It's not intended to stay in the theme at all.
>>
>> I would think that if it's not a permanent part of the theme (like a
>> footer link or an opt-in credit link) then using EITHER (1) wordpress.orgor (2) the theme URL or (3) the author URL or (4)
>> example.com or (5) home_url() would give enough options to show how it
>> works.
>>
>>
>> "However, the Theme Review team reserves the right to prohibit such
>> optional text/links if, at its sole discretion, a Theme abuses this option."
>>
>> I would say don't abuse it and it will be fine your theme has already
>> been approved many times.
>>
>> Wayne
>>
>>
>>
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