[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #6059: Display style variations for block themes in the theme directory

[Making WordPress.org]

#6059: Display style variations for block themes in the theme directory
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 Reporter:  poena            |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement      |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:
Component:  Theme Directory  |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                   |
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Comment (by dufresnesteven):

 Replying to [comment:4 Joen]:
 > I just added
 https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/timeline?from=2022-09-22T12%3A32%3A09Z&precision=second
 as an example of a thumbnail that could be switched out per style
 variations. Would something like that work?

 I'm assuming you meant to link the image above your comment.

 I like the idea of not needing the preview window. The image attachment
 only shows a small portion of the page so to make sure I understand
 correctly, the style variations show up below the main theme thumbnail,
 and clicking on the style variation changes the thumbnail to a preview of
 the site with the style variation applied. Is that correct?

 If I have that right, the only drawback is how different the theme
 thumbnail can be from the actual site. This is the result of how a theme
 is built and how wp-themes.com configures themes (See references for
 ticket about better preview data). It could be a confusing experience to
 go from a nice-looking thumbnail to a sparse-looking blog layout (See
 examples below). With that being said, that problem will exist regardless
 of the approach we take and I would say that experience is probably the
 exception and not the rule for block themes. We could lessen the
 "surprise" by instead of using the style variation preview square with the
 colors and the "A" but instead, use the preview snapshot. I think it could
 work and would require the least amount of work to get this out the door
 but I'm not opposed to implementing the "A" color square to keep it in
 sync with the site editor experience.


 **Examples:**
 Look at the theme thumbnail, click "Preview". Notice how they differ.

 https://wordpress.org/themes/taina/
 https://wordpress.org/themes/categorical/
 https://wordpress.org/themes/hello-elementor/ (no style variations, but
 same effect)


 **References:**
 https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/30

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6059#comment:5>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
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