[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #9015: Proposal: A new theme based around Modern WordPress which is designed to be simple, customizable, and something to base themes off

[WordPress Trac]

#9015: Proposal: A new theme based around Modern WordPress which is designed to be
simple, customizable, and something to base themes off
-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  DD32             |       Owner:              
     Type:  feature request  |      Status:  new         
 Priority:  normal           |   Milestone:  2.9         
Component:  Themes           |     Version:              
 Severity:  normal           |    Keywords:  dev-feedback
-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
 Spurred on by the discussion of Sandbox coming up again on wp-hackers, Its
 lead me to think about the themes issue.

 Currently, The bundled themes are not exactly the simplest to modify,
 Well, They are, But they either end up with dodgy results, Similar
 looking, Or just plain ugly.. This leads many users to attempt to find
 another theme to use, and customize, This is all good, But there are a few
 problems with the majority of themes:

  * Complex HTML Structure
  * Complex CSS Hacks
  * Backwards compatible
  * Use code from older !WordPress versions (ie. I picked up a theme a few
 days ago, Which used things deprecated in 2.2, yet required 2.7
 functionality)
  * Just plain ugly code

 So, What i'm proposing, Is that instead of including a current generation
 base them such as Sandbox (Or the many others that escape my mind right
 now)[[BR]]
 Is that the !WordPress Project aims to create a new theme, '''Which is
 Simple, Stylish, Clean code, Uses the latest features, And most
 importantly, Is easy for new developers to customise to their own
 requirements.''' At first, This probably sounds like yet another sandbox,
 But the idea behind it, Is to provide a platform which people can base
 their work from, Full well knowing that it uses the latest practices,
 Explains what its doing, and how its doing it, A Community effort, Not a
 single person (Or a small group of people)'s opinions on how to do it.

 Kubrick isn't bad, It does look OK, and it IS a good theme, But its not
 the best for people to be basing their new themes off.

 New theme developers (And current developers even), Need something which
 they can rely upon.

 So a theme which:
  * Uses clean markup
  * Has a basic style included, Which is designed to be replaced.
    * The default style should be able to be used by itself, But it should
 be in such a way that its simple to be customised
  * Doesn't rely upon fixed width styling, or fixed background images
  * Uses limited !JavaScript
  * Uses the Theme api correctly
    * comments_option() instead of 'open' == $post->comment_status
    * post_class(), etc.
  * Look good even when the user modifies the theme slightly (ie. changes
 widths or floats an item)
    * I realise it's impossible if they're changing it, But a simple small
 change should not break everything, It should be designed with the purpose
 of looking good whilst having its layout moved around
  * includes custom Widget examples, SIMPLE widget examples
    * Ie. Something with no control, Just a simple "This little widget Adds
 this theme-specific functionality, It requires no modification, just does
 this when inserted"
  * Uses ALL the current functionality !WordPress offers

 Kubrick has been around for awhile, Something new and fresh is needed now,
 The 2.5 and 2.7 redesigns have been great, And the code changes under the
 hood are rather clean, Just need to help theme developers create themes to
 be as great as the !WordPress codebase is (Not to say that professional
 theme developers do not develop good themes, Professional theme creators
 are a minority in those who customize themes)

 (I apologise if any of this has been repeated numerous times, If i'm
 unclear, Or contradict myself.)

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/9015>
WordPress Trac <http://trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress blogging software