[theme-reviewers] Fwd: Theme Lab - Shortcode

Sun Jul 14 01:44:03 UTC 2013

I will agree, not really our decision to make :)


On Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 8:35 PM, Philip M. Hofer (Frumph) <philip at frumph.net
> wrote:

>   Regardless, it’s not the place of the theme REVIEW team to make such
> limitations unless a core developer states explicitly that a component is
> not allowed to be distributed and used in themes.
>
> Damn power hungry cookie cutter loving mongrels [image: Winking smile]
> /grin
>
>
>
>  *From:* Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> *Sent:* Saturday, July 13, 2013 5:54 PM
> *To:* Discussion list for WordPress theme reviewers.<theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [theme-reviewers] Fwd: Theme Lab - Shortcode
>
>  Thanks for passing that along, Daniel.
>
> And this list is certainly intended to discuss such things. Especially as
> it directly relates to Guidelines/review philosophy, I wouldn't consider it
> "junk".
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 8:42 PM, Daniel <danielx386 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> I know that you don't like people passing on junk but I just got this in
>> my inbox and I feel that it hit the nail on the head about including
>> shortcodes in themes.
>>
>> Enjoy :)
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Theme Lab <leland at themelab.com>
>> Date: Sun, Jul 14, 2013 at 10:18 AM
>> Subject: Theme Lab
>> To:
>>
>>
>> **
>>    Theme Lab <http://www.themelab.com> [image: Link to Theme Lab]
>> <http://www.themelab.com>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Shortcodes Should Never Be Included With Themes. Period.<http://www.themelab.com/2013/07/13/put-shortcodes-in-a-plugin/>
>>
>> Posted: 13 Jul 2013 12:28 PM PDT
>>
>> ThemeForest recently<http://notes.envato.com/news/announcement-wordpress-theme-submission-requirements/>updated their WordPress
>> theme submission requirements<http://support.envato.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/472/85/wordpress-theme-submission-requirements>to be more stringent and more inline with WordPress theme development best
>> practices.
>>
>> The guidelines require the use several of WordPress’ core features,
>> standard theme hooks, and disallow PHP functions (like base64 and fopen)
>> that really *shouldn’t have ever had any place in a WordPress theme* to
>> begin with.
>>
>> Basically, pretty much WordPress.org’s Theme Review policy<http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review>,
>> give or take a few things.
>>
>> Overall, it’s a step in the right direction and moves to *promote best
>> practices on one of the most popular WordPress theme marketplaces* on
>> the net. There’s just one problem…
>> Admissible Shortcodes
>>
>> One thing that particularly caught my eye, however, was how *certain
>> “admissible” shortcode functionality was allowed* (i.e. by directly
>> including them through the theme’s functions.php file). The ones listed
>> as “admissible” included the following:
>>
>>    - buttons
>>    - pricing tables
>>    - image containers
>>    - dropcaps
>>    - lists
>>
>> Inadmissible shortcodes include: maps, accordions and toggles, boxed
>> contents, column, contact forms, charts.
>> The Problem with Shortcodes in Themes
>>
>> I can’t really put it better than Justin Tadlock already has<http://justintadlock.com/archives/2011/05/02/dealing-with-shortcode-madness>.
>> One of the most noticeable issues, is that when a user changes themes, the
>> *shortcodes will no longer be parsed*.
>>
>> Let’s say “Super Awesome” theme had a shortcode feature that would output
>> a big green button with a link when you typed out something like [button
>> url="http://example.com"]Big Green Button[/button].
>>
>> Big Green Button <#13fdad160229ece8_13fdaa15eff5a0dc_13fda8ae8947dbb9_>
>>
>> When you switch to another theme (let’s face it, people get bored of
>> themes easily), there’s no more big green button. Instead, *you see the
>> unparsed shortcode in the post* as if it were any other piece of
>> content, like this:
>>
>> [button url="http://example.com"]Big Green Button[/button]
>>
>> It looks ugly, confusing, and out-of-place, and it’s a *pain for the
>> user to go back and remove/replace* all of them.
>> The Other Problem with Shortcodes in Themes
>>
>> Something that Tadlock went over in his “Dealing with shortcode madness”
>> article is, a lot of shortcodes are so simple and HTML-like, it might even
>> be best to instruct users to write out a little (*gasp*) *real HTML code*
>> .
>>
>> The same [button url="http://example.com"]Button Text[/button] shortcode
>> in my example above could be *easily rewritten* as something like:
>>
>> <a href="http://example.com" class="button">Button text here</a>
>>
>> While there may not be CSS code styling the .button selector in a new
>> theme, at least a normal link will show up. *Which is a big improvement*over an unparsed
>> [button] shortcode showing up in a post’s content.
>>
>> Plus, I believe every WordPress user *should have at least some basic
>> understanding of HTML code*. By teaching them, even in little bits (like
>> how to construct a link), will help. If they can understand a shortcode, it
>> won’t take much more to get them to understand basic HTML.
>> But The Users Don’t Care!
>>
>> A common argument I see defending all sorts of bad practices when it
>> comes to theme development is that the users simply *don’t care*. I
>> mean, maybe they never want to update their theme, in which case, this *shortcode
>> issue would be a moot point*.
>>
>> The problem is, some users *inevitably will want to switch themes* some
>> day. Some users will want to install a plugin that might conflict with some
>> other poorly-thought-out code in a theme.
>>
>> Then, they probably will care, and probably will wonder if the theme they
>> bought with 100s of built-in shortcodes and other *superfluous features
>> was really worth it*.
>> The Right Way to Include Shortcodes
>>
>> Put it in a plugin. A really simple plugin. It doesn’t need a separate
>> options panel. *Just literally copy and paste* whatever you were going
>> to include via your theme’s functions.php file, and put it in a plugin<https://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_a_Plugin>instead.
>>
>> It could even be bundled with something like TGM Plugin Activation<http://tgmpluginactivation.com/>to make it required on theme activation. Or not. A
>> *theme is still a theme without shortcodes*.
>>
>> This way, if the user changes themes, the *shortcodes will still work*,
>> because that functionality is handled by the plugin that is still active.
>>
>> Maybe the plugin could also enqueue styles<http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_enqueue_style>for the shortcodes as well. This way, the big green buttons you included
>> with the [button] shortcode will still be big green buttons, regardless of
>> the theme used.
>> Why Did ThemeForest Allow “Admissible” Shortcodes?
>>
>> It’s hard to say what exactly the reasoning behind this decision was.
>> Japh Thomson, a WordPress evangelist at Envato (ThemeForest’s parent
>> company) had this to say about it in a comment on WPMU.org<http://wpmu.org/themeforest-developer-guidelines/#comment-143884>
>> :
>>
>> Complex shortcode functionality really should reside in a plugin, not a
>> theme. It also just makes sense when you consider most of our authors have
>> multiple themes.
>>
>> Obviously, he gets it. So it’s a *mystery to me why there would be any
>> “admissible” shortcodes* at all. And yes, I realize he used the word
>> “complex” in the quote above, and the admissible shortcodes do tend to be
>> pretty simple ones (dropcaps, lists, etc.).
>>
>> Simple as a shortcode may be, the *problems I outlined above will still
>> exist*. ThemeForest has shown to be responsive to community feedback, so
>> it’s possible this rule is amended in the future.
>> Conclusion
>>
>> I realize this post *seems a bit nit-picky*, and these new guidelines
>> are definitely a huge step in the right direction. But there’s really no
>> reason any shortcode should be allowed in a theme, simple or not.
>>
>>  Can you think of a situation when a publicly released theme absolutely
>> needs to include shortcode functionality via its own functions.php?
>>
>> — Theme Lab (@themelab) July 9, 2013<https://twitter.com/themelab/statuses/354662109273001984>
>>
>> *Spoiler alert:* Didn’t get any responses to that tweet with a real
>> example of a shortcode absolutely needing to be included in a
>> publicly-released theme.
>>
>> That’s because it’s *just not user-friendly* for a user to go back and
>> replace hundreds of button shortcodes after they switched to a theme that
>> doesn’t have the exact same shortcode support.
>>
>> Related posts:
>>
>>    1. Why WordPress Widgets Vanish When Migrating to New URL<http://www.themelab.com/2013/07/06/why-wordpress-widgets-disappear/>
>>    2. Want More Retweets? Use the Official Tweet Button<http://www.themelab.com/2010/08/16/use-the-official-tweet-button/>
>>    3. Dear Theme Devs, Stop Pasting Random Snippets of Code in
>>    functions.php<http://www.themelab.com/2011/01/21/theme-devs-random-snippets/>
>>
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