THEME: UW Madison 2015 – 1.0.0

[althe3rd]

UW Madison 2015 - 1.0.0

A general UW-Madison WordPress theme

Theme URL -
Author URL -

SVN - ​https://themes.svn.wordpress.org/uw-madison-2015/1.0.0
ZIP - ​https://wordpress.org/themes/download/uw-madison-2015.1.0.0.zip?nostats=1

History:

Ticket	Summary	Status	Resolution	Owner
#25580	THEME: UW Madison 2015 – 1.0.0	closed	not-approved	writegnj
(this ticket)

[writegnj]

Hi althe3rd,
Thank you for submitting your theme on WordPress repository.
I will be reviewing your theme!

[writegnj]

Required

• Theme should function normally without any plugins. You can recommend plugins but can't require. ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#plugins

• Can't include plugin in the theme. lib/plugins

None of the page are working without plugin(Advanced Custom Fields).

Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_field() in /srv/www/wordpress-default/wp-content/themes/uw-madison-2015/content-page.php on line 21

Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_field() in /srv/www/wordpress-default/wp-content/themes/uw-madison-2015/content-single.php on line 23

• Screenshot size ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#screenshot

• No copyright information on bascom_sample.jpg ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#licensing

• Only Google library(fonts) is allowed for hot-linking ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#stylesheets-and-scripts

Recommanded

• Removing the blocked out code in functions.php unless you have a good reason to keep it.

• Adding readme.txt file with copyright information on JavaScript libraries js folder

• Use core-bundled script js folder. ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#stylesheets-and-scripts

• Removing js/navigation.js (Entire code is commented out)

• Theme URL & Author URL are missing in style.css

Theme Check

• RECOMMENDED: No reference to add_editor_style() was found in the theme. It is recommended that the theme implement editor styling, so as to make the editor content match the resulting post output in the theme, for a better user experience.

• RECOMMENDED: Theme URI: is missing from your style.css header.

• RECOMMENDED: Author URI: is missing from your style.css header.

• INFO: Non-printable characters were found in the searchform.php file. You may want to check this file for errors.

Line 34: <input type='text' class='search-field' placeholder='<?php echo esc_attr_x( 'Search ���', 'placeholder', 'uw_madison_wp_2015' ) ?>' value='<?php echo get_searc

• INFO: page.php The theme appears to use include or require. If these are being used to include separate sections of a template from independent files, then get_template_part() should be used instead.

Line 35: <?php include('pagefeature.php'); ?>

• INFO: index.php The theme appears to use include or require. If these are being used to include separate sections of a template from independent files, then get_template_part() should be used instead.

Line 19: <?php include('spotlight.php'); ?>
Line 22: <?php include('pagefeature.php'); ?>

• INFO: class-tgm-plugin-activation.php The theme appears to use include or require. If these are being used to include separate sections of a template from independent files, then get_template_part() should be used instead.

Line 1060: require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/class-wp-list-table.php' );

I can't really proceed the review without seeing the theme working without the plugins. Please re-submit the theme after removing the plugins.

[althe3rd]

Thank you very much for your review notes. If I may, I have a few questions regarding the "Required" items section of the review notes.

In particular it would seem that using Advanced Custom Fields in any form isn't allowed as custom page templates are needed to output what ACF is used for. And without ACF in place those page templates are useless as well.

Is it safe to say any use of Advanced Custom Fields is basically against the rules for submission? Or is there a gray area where it could be used and if so what is that?

Is there a way to apply a custom page template to a custom post type automatically (by way of php conditional or file/slug naming)? I have not been successful in finding anything regarding this in the WordPress codex.

When you combine the limitations for theme submission on custom post types (meaning the theme is not allowed to declare them) along with the limitation on using Advanced Custom Fields (assuming I am not misunderstanding the restriction) it makes it seem that the only place a theme developer can add custom functionality (like a built in hero image carousel would be in a custom made theme options page. Is this correct?

It seems as though WordPress is steering devs towards using the Customize Admin section instead of a theme options page. Because of this I don't feel as though there are any options left for a WordPress theme to do anything other than be a blog/static content style site. After all, the theme developer controls look and feel, but we can't control look and feel for things that we can't bundle into the theme. Which means the plugins style the added functionality that they add and that will invariably stick out like a sore thumb as it does today with even the most popular plugins.

I completely understand the need for these restrictions as it relates to users of WordPress.com. Please don't consider this an angry rant. I just wish that for Wordpress.org site users there was a way to distribute a theme using the nice versioning/upgrading system that the marketplace offers without all of the same restrictions that are necessary for Wordpress.com users.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to put out my thoughts on the matter. I would greatly appreciate your feedback on the items I mentioned above.

Thanks,
Al

[writegnj]

Is it safe to say any use of Advanced Custom Fields is basically against the rules for submission? Or is there a gray area where it could be used and if so what is that?

According to ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#plugins it is not allowed but you can recommend plugins.

Is there a way to apply a custom page template to a custom post type automatically (by way of php conditional or file/slug naming)? I have not been successful in finding anything regarding this in the WordPress codex.

Including a post type is not recommaned on themes. ​https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/post-types/#custom-post-types

When you combine the limitations for theme submission on custom post types (meaning the theme is not allowed to declare them) along with the limitation on using Advanced Custom Fields (assuming I am not misunderstanding the restriction) it makes it seem that the only place a theme developer can add custom functionality (like a built in hero image carousel would be in a custom made theme options page. Is this correct?

You can use Customizer for theme options. ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/handbook/review/required/#options-and-settings

I wish I could give you a better answer on your questions. I could only give you a generic answers that I found on WordPress docs/handbooks. I understand the limitation of restrictions for themes on WordPress.org but it is not allowed at this moment and I need to follow the rules to review the themes. Hope you understand :)

You may want to join Slack(​https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) to share your thoughts and get better answers to your questions.

[grapplerulrich]

In particular it would seem that using Advanced Custom Fields in any form isn't allowed as custom page templates are needed to output what ACF is used for. And without ACF in place those page templates are useless as well.

Is it safe to say any use of Advanced Custom Fields is basically against the rules for submission? Or is there a gray area where it could be used and if so what is that?

My solution to you would be to hide the ACF specific templates when the plugin is not installed.

There seem to be a few solutions. I have not tested them or know which one is the best.
​http://wptheming.com/2014/02/hiding-page-templates-in-the-admin/
​http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/13671/how-to-remove-a-parent-theme-page-template-from-a-child-theme
​http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13566676/how-to-hide-a-template-in-wordpress

Is there a way to apply a custom page template to a custom post type automatically (by way of php conditional or file/slug naming)? I have not been successful in finding anything regarding this in the WordPress codex.

Yes, see the theme hierarchy ​https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/template-hierarchy/#custom-post-types

[grapplerulrich]

Actually the best thing is to use the filter ​theme_page_templates which allows you to unset a page template if a plugin is not installed.

[writegnj]

@grapplerulrich Thank you for the comment!

[writegnj]

@althe3rd
Any updates on the theme?

[althe3rd]

First let me say that I really appreciate both of your replies. The information and advice on the changes are extremely helpful.

I am working on applying those updates in a way that I think keeps to the intent of the themes design. I have modified the sub pages so that they no longer require Advanced Custom Fields. However, one of the more difficult changes is how to refactor the hero image / slider on the home page. Initially I was using a custom post type (as we didn't want to tie the hero images to other post and page content) to keep the information for the hero image / slider separate. I was combining that custom post type with ACF to make sure I could make the image a required field as well as give nice controls for choosing where the hero image would link to.

I am looking into options for moving the hero image / slider controls into WP customize as I think that might be the most compatible option that allows for custom controls. I had already been using the customize UI for selecting the other home page feature so it would make sense for it to fall along the same lines in terms of placement.

Please let me know if you think I am going down the wrong path though in terms of accommodating that functionality.

[writegnj]

That sounds good to me. Looking forward to review the new version :)