Theme Standards System

[Jeffro]

After reading through the discussion here, it seems as though the standards system is almost impossible to come up with because everyone has their own take on what the STANDARD should be. It also seems like rating systems wouldn't work either because higher ratings means better theme.

It seems to me that the best way to tackle this problem is to have someone write independent reviews on these themes covering a broad aspect of criteria but even then, the review turns into ones opinion and the ratings for a theme would most likely be different depending on who wrote the review.

Along with standards, you also need a standard body to provide strict enforcement of these standards. It's not worth the trouble if you can't enforce them.

Overall, I think Andrew has a good idea as does NathanRice but I don't know how you could pull it off with as little personal influence as possible.

[schmitty23]

I agree that how a developer would review a theme and an end user would review are two completely different things. As a WP newbie, I don't want a theme where I have to dig into the code or CSS everywhere, which is what I'm finding I have to do. My goal is to get a website up and functioning as quickly and with as little customization as possible - so feature reach option panels are great for me - especially when I don't know exactly what I want until I play around with it. But I see where a developer may want as little bloat as possible because they will add\customize what they want, they probably know exactly what they are shooting for, and don't want fluff that will complicate or slow down the site. That being said - I think what a lot of people are talking about here is rating templates of different types, when perhaps what is needed first is to come up with a way to *classify* those types, and then rate within the category. Just like with cars - you can't take every car Honda makes and compare them apples to apples. A fit might be a great car, but it does not have the design or features that an Odyssey does.

[small potato]

***i haven't read all responses... most of them.***

how bout a relative ratings system? separate themes into categories then rate them relatively based on the quality of their competition because users aren't looking for the overall best.

then, use a second ratings system based on code, functionality, etc. this allows users looking for the typical theme with everything to quickly filter out niche or special themes.

that way, themes without option panels don't have to go up against themes with option panels... for example.

(i don't read this forum often so if u quote me and don't get a response, you know wassup.)

[MonikaTS]

wordpress.org has its rule for Theme Designer,
these rules are binding and very closely -

and WP 2.8 default theme is never xhtml valid, because *role* or *aria_required*
is not valid xhtml

this time no html validator accept this WAI compliant tags.

who sets the criteria of any theme standard?

you? some english spoken user of WordPress -
some people who know your forum and are willing to register to say something?

;-)

rating is always subjectiv and I ask myself who need a rating system?

regards

[dancole]

who sets the criteria of any theme standard?

you? some english spoken user of WordPress -
some people who know your forum and are willing to register to say something?

The group of people who have joined this discussion are mainly made up of theme developers and theme enthusiasts. We would be setting a non-enforceable standard. The point of this is to push for better quality themes. Most themes are poorly done and only include the basics.

Standards in general are based on facts, not opinions. Take for example the IEEE 1394 standard or more commonly know as Firewire. A computer either has Firewire or it doesn't not. Although some things discussed here move away from standards and are more toward reviews and opinions.