[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #5693: Allow themes to re-use a rejected slug

[Making WordPress.org]

#5693: Allow themes to re-use a rejected slug
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 Reporter:  dd32             |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement      |     Status:  new
 Priority:  low              |  Milestone:
Component:  Theme Directory  |   Keywords:  2nd-opinion
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 Currently when a theme is rejected/not-approved the rejected theme blocks
 the usage of that slug going forward.

 For example, in 2010 a theme called 'Green' was uploaded:
 https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/2 and added to SVN:
 https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/browser/green/
 That theme was rejected, but 11 years later no other theme can re-use that
 slug without someone from meta stepping in to make it happen.

 That's a "bad" example, as uploading a theme called Green would actually
 be blocked by the active installs check, but it's an example of a theme
 that we've still got hosted even though it's not of benefit to anyone.

 I think we should remove these old uploads which haven't been accepted/etc
 and allow the name to be re-used by something else - assuming it can meet
 the other upload requirements.

 Perhaps it should stay blocked for the author of the uploaded theme for a
 given amount of time, 12 months seems plenty of time to me, after that any
 rejected themes (that were never published) should release their slugs and
 remove their SVN directories.

 Having the post objects shift from being in a 'draft' state to 'rejected'
 would also help cleanup the wp-admin listing.

 Proposal:
 For any submitted theme that is marked as rejected, and has never been
 published on WordPress.org:
  - After 12 months, rename the post slug to `rejected-$slug` to free the
 slug
  - After 12 months, `svn rm https://themes.svn.wordpress.org/$slug` to
 free the SVN location

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5693>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org