[theme-reviewers] Screenshot.png

[Otto]

The terms "reasonable facsimile" seem to be throwing off a fair amount of
reviewers from what I've read...

It's fine for a theme to have some setup and configuration involved to make
it look right for the user, and for that type of thing to be reflected in
the screenshot. The screenshot does not need to be *exactly* what you get
after activating the theme for the first time, but more along the lines of
the most common use.

That said, if the theme looks like total crap after the initial install and
activation, then that is something you probably want to tell the author
too. The purpose of a review is not just to approve the theme for the
directory, but to help the author to *improve* the theme overall. We want
the themes in the directory to be good ones. If something is wrong with the
theme, even if it's not going to be a showstopper against approval, then
you should still speak up and give the author your advice. Work with them a
bit. Suggest improvements, fixes, etc.

And really, themes should use good default settings. Yes, a user will want
to configure the theme, but those defaults determine what they see after
activating the theme for the first time, so it should look pretty good
there too. If the screenshot is extremely different from what the theme
looks like from the start, then that's something the author might want to
improve.

-Otto



On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 5:29 AM, John Wilson <mail at johnwilsononline.com>
wrote:

> I'm conducting a theme review and one of the issues which has come up is
> screenshot.png
>
> The dimensions are incorrect, and it isn't a “reasonable facsimile” of the
> Theme after it is initially activated with default options.
>
> The developer has fixed the size, but raised a question. With the default
> theme after activation, the theme just looks like a blog. However, using
> the theme options they've created it's possible to create a theme which
> looks very different, and the whole purpose of a theme called 'Business
> Guru'.
>
> Would it be acceptable to show what the theme looks like with the basic
> theme options applied, as somebody who wants this theme won't want it to
> look like a basic blog and may be put off by the screenshot?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
>
> *John Wilson*
>
>
> Website: http://www.johnwilsononline.com/
> Email: mail at johnwilsononline.com
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnwilsonuk
> LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/johnwilsonuk
>
> _______________________________________________
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> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
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>
>
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