Clarification of Screenshot Guidelines

The current guidelines for the Theme screenshot read as follows:

  • Recommended 4:3 W:H ratio, size 600x450px (2x the previous 300x225px, to account for Retina displays).
  • Maximum size: 600x450px
  • Should be a “reasonable facsimile” of the Theme after it is initially activated with default options

I think a bit of clarification is in order, with respect to Themes designed to be used with a custom front page (i.e. front-page.php). I think that, in this case, the intent of the guidelines includes discretion to account for the design intent of the Theme. To that end, I would like to clarify that appropriate screenshots include the custom front page (front-page.php) display, even if that display requires the user to configure Settings -> Reading in order to display it.

Bear in mind that the original purpose of this guideline was to prevent undue marketing via the screenshot, either with unavailable “dummy” content displayed, or a screenshot that was a company/Theme logo, or that displayed something other than the Theme itself. A screenshot that displays the Theme’s front-page.php view is nothing like any of those mis-uses of the screenshot, and is a legitimate representation of the Theme.

What are your thoughts? Should the guidelines formally be clarified in this regard?

Edit

I forgot to mention: there is also an open Trac ticket to incorporate functionality to let Themes declare that they are designed to use a static front page, and “opt in” to that configuration as the default. If/when that ticket gets implemented, we’ll need to have this clarification anyway.

#guidelines, #screenshot