[wp-hackers] Grandchild themes

[Andrew Nacin]

On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 11:09 AM, Nathan Rice <ncrice at gmail.com> wrote:

> FWIW, a "framework" is a "framework" whether it's a parent theme that
> doesn't get modified, a drop-in folder within a standalone theme (which
> doesn't get modified), or even in a plugin, really. In reality, WordPress
> itself is a "theme framework", but it exists in a separate layer than the
> currently active theme. Trying to define an object as a methodology seems
> dumb to me.


Given that none of these are frameworks in the true programming sense, I'm
quite happy with that there's no formal standardization of that word in this
community.

My take: Child themes are inherently less stable. Grandchild themes would be
more so. I think the Genesis model is actually pretty nifty, as long as the
themes are written in such a way that there's no need to upgrade them. On
the other hand, I'm not sure that future features in WordPress wouldn't
require opt-in changes.