[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #14310: Make template hierarchy filterable

[WordPress Trac]

#14310: Make template hierarchy filterable
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 Reporter:  scribu            |       Owner:  johnbillion
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  reviewing
 Priority:  normal            |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Themes            |     Version:
 Severity:  normal            |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch commit  |     Focuses:  template
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Comment (by influencebydesign):

 Thanks for your response. I can see how some filters being used by plugins
 without the end user’s knowledge could cause issues. At the same time, one
 of the things that makes WordPress so great is how you can customize it to
 your needs and change default behaviour to achieve desired outcomes.

 The way I see it, I could already completely change the way the template
 hierarchy works through the template_include filter. If I really wanted
 to, I could duplicate the logic to determine the array of templates based
 on the current template hierarchy. However, this is very inefficient since
 it has already been determined and would require maintenance to keep it in
 step with future changes. Thus, the real issue becomes not whether the
 template hierarchy should be changeable, but whether people should have
 access to what the default template hierarchy should be. Currently you
 allow people to change it, but they can not do so in an informed manner
 which I see as even more of an issue.



 Replying to [comment:65 DrewAPicture]:
 > Replying to [comment:64 influencebydesign]:
 > > So why does this ticket seem to have such a problem getting through
 the process? The last time the Milestone was changed to Future Release was
 5 years ago. I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of WordPress's core,
 but it seems like the idea behind apply_filters is that by default without
 hooked functions it wouldn't change anything.
 >
 > The problem is that while on the surface this seems like a simple
 change, it could have far-reaching unintended consequences. Making the
 template hierarchy broadly filterable would effectively make it possible
 to completely override expected behavior for how templates work in
 WordPress. That's a really big deal.
 >
 > When used ''as intended'' it's not a bad idea. But time and again, core
 has introduced hooks that have been ''misused'' and abused, and if enough
 people are doing the abusing, that sometimes becomes something core has to
 support.
 >
 > Part of what makes WordPress so approachable by developers of all levels
 is that there are certain constants in how it can be expected to work.
 Therefore, I don't think it's unreasonable to approach a feature request
 like this with a high level of caution as has been demonstrated here.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/14310#comment:66>
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