[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #28509: Allow themes specifically meant to be parent themes to prevent activation

[WordPress Trac]

#28509: Allow themes specifically meant to be parent themes to prevent activation
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 Reporter:  nathanrice   |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Themes       |     Version:  3.9.1
 Severity:  normal       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:               |     Focuses:
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Comment (by ryanduff):

 Replying to [comment:15 Otto42]:
 > Replying to [comment:13 nathanrice]:
 > > The point is to allow theme developers to affect the UX in a way that
 helps reinforce the intended usage. If I, as a theme developer, don't
 believe the theme is best used as the active theme, why not allow me to at
 least try and enforce that a little?
 >
 > But is that intended usage best for the user? It seems to me that making
 a "theme" that doesn't actually work as a theme doesn't make a whole lot
 of sense. A theme that is really just a framework for some other code
 shouldn't be actually called a "theme". It creates user confusion because
 it's using the wrong system to accomplish its goals.
 >
 > If the goal is to provide a base for some other code to build a theme
 upon, then that base is not a theme in and of itself, and should not be a
 theme. It should be a plugin, or a framework, or maybe something else
 entirely.
 >
 > Expanding the definition of "theme" to allow things that are not
 actually themes to live there too is probably not the right answer. It
 would make more sense to allow for some other kind of core "framework"
 support, but realistically I think that could exist as a plugin instead.
 If it was popular enough, then a special type of plugin could be devised
 for it, but I don't really think it is that popular of a methodology. I
 know a couple of "themes" that do this, but only a couple.

 I've worked on enough sites where we need to install parent/child theme
 and can't tell you how many times I've accidentally activated the wrong
 theme and had to go back and activate the child theme instead. Perhaps
 it's just me in haste that causes the issue. Maybe users take more time to
 look at what they're clicking on...

 In either case there's gotta be a way to make that UX clearer.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28509#comment:17>
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