[wp-hackers] Theme and Plugin Integration

[Jeff Minard]

Owen Winkler wrote:
> I've attached a core patch that will let theme developers add multiple 
> "Requires:" header lines to themes.  This will allow WordPress to 
> display what plugins are required for that theme and detect whether a 
> function from that plugin (thus, the whole plugin) is available.  The 
> format of the header line is:
> 
> Requires: function_name plugin_url description

This is a great idea as it would allow us to continue the separation of 
theme/plugin directories. However...


> Please take a minute to consider what including plugin code with a theme 
> denies the plugin authors - the only real incentive for their work, credit.

You're totally correct. By packageing plugins within a theme, the theme 
author is likely to recieve credit for a plugins functionality unless 
they are very explicit in their declaration of who made what on the 
download page.



And I don't care. (And I make plugins, not themes)



This is not about ego boosting plugin authors; the solution of bundling 
plugins with themes is focused on the end user experience. One of the 
overriding goals of WP as a product is that it's easy to use *for 
anyone*. Allowing themes to package various plugins would allow theme 
authors to take advantage of a lot of extra WP features, while still 
making the process of using that theme very easy for the end user (at 
any technical level).

Your proposition, however, has users getting a theme, reading a bunch of 
technical info and bouncing from site to site to get the various things 
they'd need and in the end quite possibly saying, "Fuck it" and going 
back to Kubrick because it was "click and work".

*My* incentive for producing plugins is to give back to the WP community 
which has given me so much.


Jeff