The WordPress Theme Review Team (TRT) met today and agreed to put new accessibility requirements in place for themes hosted in the official directory. These include some of the items that are required for theme authors who want to add the accessibility-ready tag. A handful of these requirements will soon be added to the standard requirements for all themes. The …
Anders Norén Release Free Chaplin Theme Designed for Block Editor, Theme Authors Discuss Better Ways to Promote Truly Free Themes
Anders Norén has released Chaplin, his 20th free WordPress theme, designed specifically for use with the block editor. Chaplin could be loosely described as an agency or business stye theme but the capabilities of the block editor enable users to create advanced page layouts that would suit many different types of websites. The layout for the front page shown in …
The Theme Review Team Releases Two Feature Packages, an Autoloader and a Customize Section Button
Two weeks ago, Justin Tadlock published a proposal on behalf of the Theme Review Team to create a set of standardized packages that theme authors can drop-into their themes. This week, the team has released two feature packages that illustrate what the project is trying to accomplish. The first is an Autoloader that provides the means necessary for theme authors …
Justin Tadlock Proposes Idea to Solve Common Theme Issues
The Theme Review Team has been discussing ideas in Slack on how to solve the problem of themes in the review queue suffering from common theme issues. Just Tadlock has proposed a idea he calls Theme Feature Repositories. The idea is to create standardized packages on the Theme Review Team GitHub repo that authors could use in their themes. If …
Elementor Launches Hello Theme on WordPress.org
Elementor launched its Hello theme on WordPress.org this week. After just a few days in the directory, the theme already has more than 10,000 active installations. It is essentially a blank starter theme that offers 100% compatibility with Elementor. Page builders with a large user base are in a unique position to influence the WordPress theme market. Loyal users will …
Tabor Theme Now Available as a Free Gatsby Theme for WordPress
Gatsby WordPress Themes, a project launched earlier this year by a group of collaborators, has just released its second free theme. The team is led by Gatsby and GraphQL aficionados Zac Gordon, Jason Bahl, Muhammad Muhsin, Hussain Thajutheen, and Alexandra Spalato. Inspired by the scalability, speed, and security that the React-based static site generator can bring to WordPress, the team …
Pipdig Under Investigation, Company is Refusing Customers’ Refund Requests
In the wake of last week’s Pipdidg scandal, the WordPress blogger and developer communities have been working together to help the company’s customers get on new themes and ensure the safety of their websites. Pipdig has been reported to various UK and internet authorities and is currently under investigation. Pipdig’s hosting provider has proactively disabled malicious code in certain files …
New Tools for Theme Developers: Theme Sniffer Plugin and Automated Accessibility Testing
WordPress contributor teams have shipped several new tools for theme developers in the past couple weeks, which have the potential to raise the quality of new themes coming into the ecosystem. The Theme Sniffer plugin is a new effort from the Theme Review team that uses custom sniffs for PHP_CodeSniffer to test a theme against WordPress coding standards and check …
The ULTIMATE Search For The Best WordPress Themes 2018
You’re on a journey to find the Holy Grail – the best WordPress theme for your website. I salute thee, bold knight, wanderer on the web, seeker of great wisdom! It’s not an easy task, I warn you, but I am here to help you start. This in-depth article sheds a light on all the […]
Everything you need to know to get started with Divi
In April of this year we announced a pivot to our business model. We decided to say goodbye to Upfront, our unique solution to the problem of visual web design within WordPress. We did this to narrow our focus. To work exclusively on the aspect of our business that has always been our strongest suit: […]