[wp-forums] We are not the theme police

Thu Aug 22 19:29:48 UTC 2013

It's up to each person if they want to help someone with a CSS question 
for a non WPORG theme. If you, like Chip, want to help with CSS, fine. 
If you don't, also fine. It's the HOW we tell someone that the non WPORG 
thing isn't really supported here that's the issue. (which I think we're 
all agreeing with)

I don't do a lot of theme support help, so with plugins I tend to :

1) Link them to the plugin's official page
2) Quick-check the FAQ if there's anything obvious (like "If you have 
problem X...") and share that if so
3) Point out "We don't support plugins not hosted on WordPress.org for a 
variety of reasons. Anything behind a paywall is next to impossible to 
debug, because we can't see the code or install it ourselves to test. 
Your best bet is to talk to the developer directly."

When I do get the rare theme question (like "This theme isn't working on 
Multisite!") I almost always direct them to the developer, since there's 
no way I can really do anything :/

I will note, a lot of non WPORG themes have CSS stashed in weird places, 
so even just telling someone to do a child theme and whatever may not 
work, because of how the theme functions. So that, for me, adds more 
into the 'why I can't help' column.

Chip Bennett wrote:
>
> I've seen what Chris is talking about, several times.
>
> There is certainly nuance involved, and oftentimes it is difficult to
> discern because of poorly worded questions, but CSS questions that are
> independent of a given Theme should be handled separately from questions
> that are specific to the given Theme.
>
> (I have always questioned the value of answering purely markup/CSS
> questions in a WordPress support forum; but right now the Themes and
> Templates forum explicitly includes such questions in its scope. I just
> avoid them and let others answer them, because I find
> Theme/template-specific questions to be much more interesting.)
>
> Here's how I would handle this situation, though:
>
> 1) If the question can be answered purely as CSS, answer the pure CSS
> question, along with instructions for how to use Chrome Developer Tools
> and/or Firefox Firebug to answer similar questions in the future.
> 2) Recommend that the changes be made via Child Theme or custom CSS 
> plugin,
> if the Theme is not under the user's control
> 3) Indicate that specific implementation is Theme-dependent
> 4) If the specific Theme is not hosted in the WPORG Theme directory,
> indicate that the user will need to seek any needed Theme-specific support
> directly from the Theme vendor
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 11:35 AM, Kathryn Presner<zoonini at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>
>>
>>>
>>> I came across a support thread last night that really bothered me.
>>
>> Hi Chris, mind linking to the thread in question so we can take a look?
>> Thanks.
>>
>> kp
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>
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> Chip Bennett <mailto:chip at chipbennett.net>
> August 22, 2013 8:46 AM
> I've seen what Chris is talking about, several times.
>
> There is certainly nuance involved, and oftentimes it is difficult to
> discern because of poorly worded questions, but CSS questions that are
> independent of a given Theme should be handled separately from questions
> that are specific to the given Theme.
>
> (I have always questioned the value of answering purely markup/CSS
> questions in a WordPress support forum; but right now the Themes and
> Templates forum explicitly includes such questions in its scope. I just
> avoid them and let others answer them, because I find
> Theme/template-specific questions to be much more interesting.)
>
> Here's how I would handle this situation, though:
>
> 1) If the question can be answered purely as CSS, answer the pure CSS
> question, along with instructions for how to use Chrome Developer Tools
> and/or Firefox Firebug to answer similar questions in the future.
> 2) Recommend that the changes be made via Child Theme or custom CSS 
> plugin,
> if the Theme is not under the user's control
> 3) Indicate that specific implementation is Theme-dependent
> 4) If the specific Theme is not hosted in the WPORG Theme directory,
> indicate that the user will need to seek any needed Theme-specific support
> directly from the Theme vendor
>
>
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> wp-forums mailing list
> wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
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> Kathryn Presner <mailto:zoonini at gmail.com>
> August 22, 2013 8:35 AM
>
> Hi Chris, mind linking to the thread in question so we can take a look?
> Thanks.
>
> kp
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> Chris Olbekson <mailto:chris at c3mdigital.com>
> August 22, 2013 8:25 AM
> Greetings list,
>
> I came across a support thread last night that really bothered me. One 
> of our moderators accused a user of "stealing" a theme and basically 
> told the user "we don't support stolen themes". We are not the theme 
> police and shouldn't be judging or even questioning people on how they 
> acquired a theme or plugin.
>
> Stealing and GPL shouldn't even be used in the same sentence, See: 
> http://justintadlock.com/archives/2013/08/19/its-legal-but-unethical 
> (I don't know if the theme in question was GPL but it really doesn't 
> matter)
>
> We are being to strict on the we don't support non WordPress themes 
> issue. The question was really a CSS question and could have applied 
> to ANY theme or website for that matter. If you don't want to answer a 
> question move on and let somebody else answer it. If the question is 
> theme related then politely direct them toward the correct place to 
> get support but lets not throw accusations out there.
>
> I normally don't step over other moderators but I edited the response 
> even though it was too late and the user saw it.
>
> I haven't had my coffee yet,
>
> Chris
>
>
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Mika A Epstein (aka Ipstenu)
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