When it comes to setting up a website, choosing the right theme is a crucial decision. For years, the WordPress theme directory has been the go-to source for WordPress users looking to style their site. However, recent events have raised questions about whether it’s still the best option for site owners and developers to rely on.
The issue centers around a crackdown by the WordPress Theme Review Team on the distinction between functionality and presentation. The team has had a policy in place for some time forbidding theme authors from defining the generation of user content. This is to prevent users from potentially losing data when changing themes. Unfortunately, during the process of moving theme requirements from the Codex to their new home in the Theme Review Handbook, this requirement was left out. As a result, themes were being reviewed inconsistently on WordPress.org for a period of time.
As the WordPress team tightened up on inconsistently applied guidelines, many free theme developers found themselves facing expensive additional development work to get things right. Some legitimate theme developers have started listing quality free themes entirely separately from the official directory, so it’s no longer the only show in town.
Site owners should care about industry wrangling over free themes because inconsistent standards have been applied in the past on admissions to the official Theme Directory. This doesn’t just inconvenience developers; it potentially makes getting support for existing themes that fall foul that much more difficult. The idea that a theme can be valid today and struck off tomorrow is also worrying.
However, WordPress.org is still very much the leading source for free themes. The three alternative free theme providers highlighted in this article offer genuinely interesting theming options, but they simply can’t compete with the depth of options on display in the official theme directory. The amount of resources that go into making themes on the official directory high-quality, secure, and compliant with best practices shouldn’t be underestimated either.
A sensible strategy for site owners would be to review the most popular free themes on WordPress.org first and then have a quick browse of the alternative options. That way, they’re covering most of the bases in as short a time as possible and giving themselves the best chance of finding a reliable free theme that matches their needs.
In conclusion, the recent fuss over acceptance criteria on WordPress.org was confusing. However, it’s ultimately a win for everyone concerned. WordPress.org has been forced to clean up its act in terms of standardizing acceptance criteria, and independent free theme makers have been spurred to explore exciting new listings options. While WordPress.org still remains the best overall source of free themes in terms of sheer quantity, site owners are encouraged to check out the other options since they may find more features and better code elsewhere.
