WordPress Theme Directory moves to WordPress Extend
You might remember that the official repository of WordPress themes was once hosted at themes.wordpress.net, but unfortunately had to close down for several reasons. Today, WordPress Themes has reopened at a new location at WordPress Extend, a fitting parallel to the Plugins section.
Bringing the new theme directory under the WordPress “extend” umbrella allowed us to take advantage of all the infrastructure that has already been built up to support WordPress.org. If you’ve browsed through the plugin directory, you’ll feel right at home in the new theme directory.
Aside from having the privilege of being at the official site of WordPress, themes uploaded there will be more convenient to update for ordinary WordPress users, as they have done with the automatic plugin updater already built into the latest version of WP.
However, theme authors, keep in mind that you must meet several requirements to get your themes listed. As with the recent development on the old themes.wordpress.net, themes with hidden, paid, or sponsored links are not allowed.
In order to be added to the directory each theme must meet the following
requirements:
- A single zip file, with all of the files themes file included.
- There must be a style.css file containing:
- Name (which must be unique to the directory)
- Tags
- Version (in the format of x.x or x.x.x and must be unique to the theme)
- Image align classes: img.centered, img.alignright, img.alignleft,
.alignright, .alignleft- The screenshot file name must be
screenshot.png, and be a
real screenshot of the theme, not a splash screen.- Licensing must be GPL compatible.
- No hidden, paid or sponsored links in the theme. Links back to the
author’s site are fine.- The theme must be your own original work.
Upload your WordPress theme now!
WordPress Plugin: WordPress Automatic Upgrade
WordPress is pretty easy to install, but I’ve always hesitated to upgrade to the latest version, no matter how many times I’ve done so in the past. So imagine my sigh of relief when I discovered the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin.
Once activated, just head over to the plugin page (Manage > Automatic Upgrade) to begin the update. Here’s an idea of what the plugin does:
- Backs up the files and makes available a link to download it.
- Backs up the database and makes available a link to download it.
- Downloads the latest files from http://wordpress.org/latest.zip and unzips it.
- Puts the site in maintenance mode.
- De-activates all active plugins and remembers it.
- Upgrades wordpress files.
- Gives you a link that will open in a new window to upgrade installation.
- Re-activates the plugins.
The plugin can also can be run in a automated mode where in you do not have to click on any links to go to the next step.
