Themes and the WP Settings API

The Settings API was initially introduced in WordPress 2.7, and is incredibly powerful. Part of its power is its automation of settings security (nonces, etc.), as well as automation of most of the admin options-page generation. Thus, use of the Settings APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. helps ensure more robust data security and more consistent user experience.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have met with much widespread adoption in Theme development. Granted, very little documentation exists for proper implementation of the Settings API, and thus the learning curve is somewhat steep. To that end, Otto has an excellent tutorial, and Press Coders have a great write-up as well.

I will be adding a Theme-centric Settings API tutorial to my to-do list. Given the increasing exposure to WordPress security issues – both real and perceived – I believe that, as we go forward, ensuring the robustness of data integrity and security of repository-hosted Themes will become increasingly important. Further, I believe that adoption of the Settings API will eventually prove to be requirement toward those ends.

So, Theme Developers: have you tried to use the Settings API? What issues have you encountered? What difficulties do you envision in attempting to migrate your Themes’ current settings functionality to use of the Settings API? How long do you believe would be reasonable before the Theme Repository begins encouraging Theme developers to use the Settings API, either as a recommendation or as a requirement?

Please note: this is an extremely early-stage discussion. At best, use of the Settings API might show up as recommended when the Guidelines are revised for WordPress 3.2. But, we want as much input as possible, as early as possible, so that we can begin addressing whatever concerns may exist.

So, what are your thoughts?

#settings-api, #theme-options