Chip Bennett 2:48 pm on February 26, 2013
Tags: Guidelines ( 34 ), Theme Name

Clarifying Guidelines for Theme Name

The current guidelines for Theme Name are as follows:

Themes are not to use WordPress in their name. For example My WordPress Theme, WordPress AwesomeSauce, andAwesomeSauce for WordPress would not be accepted. After all, this is the WordPress Theme repository.

Themes are not to use the term Theme in their name, such as: AwesomeSauce Theme. Same reason as above … it’s a Themerepository.

Themes may use the WP acronym in the Theme name, such as WP AwesomeSauce.

Themes are not to use version-specific, markup-related terms (e.g. HTML5, CSS3, etc.) in their name.

Themes are not to use related terms (e.g. Blog, Web Log, Template, Skin, etc.) in their name.

Themes are not to use Theme author/developer credit text in their name. For example AwesomeSauce by John Q. Developer(makes for a much better credit link); or, SEO/SPAM-seeded text, such as: AwesomeSauce by Awesome Free WP Themes (this is just not going to pass).

Themes are not to use related Theme names (e.g. WP Twenty Eleven, Twenty Eleven WP, The Twenty Eleven, etc.) in their name.

In light of recent discussions, I think this would be a good time to clarify these guidelines. Please discuss below if you have any comments, questions, or feedback related to the Theme Name guidelines.

WordPress

The requirement not to use the term WordPress in a Theme Name should be obvious; all Themes hosted in the directory are WordPress Themes.

Generic Terms

The following Guidelines relate to the use of generic terms:

Themes are not to use version-specific, markup-related terms (e.g. HTML5, CSS3, etc.) in their name.

Themes are not to use related terms (e.g. Blog, Web Log, Template, Skin, etc.) in their name.

These are the guidelines that I think are the least articulate, and need clarification.

The intent is to avoid generic terms related to design elements, features/functionality, or intended use of the Theme. Whether that’s markup (HTML5, CSS3), design (responsiveness), features/functionality (photo galleries, jQuery masonry), or intended use (“Tumblogging”, real estate, business), terms related to these aspects are better left to the Theme description and, where applicable, filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. tag keywords.

The purpose of a Theme name is to ascribe an identity to the Theme through the uniqueness of that name. It is perfectly fine to invoke design elements or intended use of the Theme through the Theme Name, but it should be done using a creative/unique term, rather than a generic term. The intent of the related Guidelines here is to emphasize this point, and to help avoid naming conflicts and disagreements that arise from the use of generic terms.

Developer name

As with the WordPress term, I think this one is self-explanatory.

Reserved CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Theme Names

The WordPress Core team has chosen a naming convention to use for the annually updated Theme distributed with core. Thus, it makes sense to ensure that this naming convention is reserved for core.

#guidelines, #theme-name

Rob van Linda 2:58 pm on February 26, 2013

Hello there,

I normally work with Joomla but started to play with WordPress about a week ago (http://robvanlinda.de and http://wp.webdesign-labor.de) and I don’t understand why I shouldn’t put my name or terms like “responsive” in my theme name?

Isn’t it entirely up to me to choose the name? It is my creation and I do what I want with it, right? As long as I don’t do something illegal I will do exactly what I want to do and even will mention WordPress in the description.

Best regards,

Rob
- Chip Bennett 3:06 pm on February 26, 2013
  
  Isn’t it entirely up to me to choose the name? It is my creation and I do what I want with it, right? As long as I don’t do something illegal I will do exactly what I want to do…
  
  Of course it is, and of course you may.
  
  But that doesn’t mean that said Theme will be approved to be hosted in the official WordPress Theme directory. Regardless of what you do with your own creation via your own distribution medium, for the official Theme directory, we need to, can, will, and do define and enforce guidelines regarding those Themes. Among those guidelines are the ones being discussed here: Theme Name. We don’t want the official Theme directory to be a magnet for marketing efforts, and we want to avoid conflicts/clashes over terms used in Theme names. So, we do need to have reasonable guidelines in place along those lines.
  - Srikanth 3:19 pm on February 26, 2013
    
    I recently submitted a theme called “xyzthemeshop_business” somehow missing this no developer name rule. credit text is xyzthemeshop.com
    So will it be allowed?
    - Chip Bennett 4:56 pm on February 26, 2013
      
      “xyzthemeshop_business”? No, I wouldn’t think so.
      
      A more acceptable construct might be “XYZ Business.” (But does that really sound like a great way to identify your Theme uniquely?)
      - Srikanth 5:14 pm on February 26, 2013
        
        I was thinking XYZ_Business will be unique name since no one will get to use the XYZ. Something along the lines of Domino’s Pizza, CiCi’s Pizza etc.
Paul 3:01 pm on February 26, 2013

I think the last paragraph is pretty clear. The theme name should not be like a search engine keyword phrase that would make sense. Like “WPAjaxTheme”. But rather “Ajaxio” or something like that.
“QueryPosts” would be rejected but not “QyPosts”. Be creative.
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stuartwider 10:39 am on March 1, 2013

Hi Chip,

Just for clarification for myself (and possibly others who are reading this) could you tell me which of the following names would pass or fail if they came to you in a theme review?

Here’s the scenario…

Imaginary theme shop ‘JollyMax Themes’ submits a ‘responsive’ theme to the directory and comes up with the following possible two word names…

Jolly Responsive
Jolly Respond
Jolly Response
Jolly Responsivo

and single term names…

Respond
Response
Responsivo

Note I do not intend using any of these names at any time – these are just examples for clarification of the gray areas.
- Chip Bennett 2:42 pm on March 1, 2013
  
  I would say that, based on the clarified intent of the Guidelines, that none of them would be acceptable. However, since we already allowed a Theme named “Responsive”, then fairness would dictate that the term “responsive” is now fair-game for other Theme names.
  
  So, replace “responsive” with any other term that falls under “design elements, features/functionality, or intended use” and I would say none would be approved. But because we’ve set a precedent with the term “responsive” itself, we must be fair to all developers, and allow that term’s use in Theme names.
  - stuartwider 7:36 pm on March 1, 2013
    
    I haven’t really been watching the development of theme guidelines up until recently but it seems to me that the clarification above of “Themes are not to use related terms (e.g. Blog, Web Log, Template, Skin, etc.) in their name” is actually stepping beyond its original intent, which I would guess was originally just there to prevent themes from stating the obvious in a name.
    
    I’m not sure the original guideline intent would have been to prevent theme authors from indicating design or features using generic terms such as responsive either. (The actual term ‘Generic terms’ is not mentioned anywhere in the existing guidelines as far as I can see).
    
    It appears to me that the clarification might be actually be a reinterpretation or retrofitting based on current discussions on the theme reviewers list, but not the intent of the guideline when it was originally created.
    
    If there is a consensus in the theme review community now to only allow original and creative names that do not use common words, generic terms or terms related to design or use, then the guidelines needs to be changed.
    
    I’m not convinced yet though from watching the theme reviewers list that there is the consensus on this issue, or that the existing guidelines need to be changed. I just think that the original intent of the guidelines need honored.
    
    My own view is that terms that indicate intended use and design are useful for theme users and should be fine in names, and that to prevent their use would be restrictive.
    
    I would say that as long as the intended use and design terms don’t cause confusion with a theme that is already in the repository, and dont hog an entire generic namespace then they should be allowed to be used.
    - stuartwider 8:10 pm on March 1, 2013
      
      Further thoughts…
      
      Rather than reinterpreting the guidelines to be more restrictive with words (which will end up being a very long ever expanding and subjective list, and a stick for everyone to hit themselves and others with), maybe, think in terms of useful guidelines for namespacing and how names can be constructed as to be unique within the repository.
      
      I’d say its more desirable to encourage useful unique names for themes, rather than worrying about which specific generic or common usage words might be used in them.
      - Chip Bennett 9:14 pm on March 1, 2013
        
        I would be fine with simply saying, “First come, first served” on all names/namespaces, and if someone chooses a “generic” term, we won’t field objections to other Themes that use that same term, as long as the overall Theme name is different. (With some common sense, of course: “Foobar” and “WP Foobar” are, for all intents and purposes, the same name.)
stuartwider 9:36 pm on March 1, 2013

Chip,
First come first served sounds reasonable,
as does no objection to themes using the same generic terms as long as its different overall.

If a ‘first come first served on generic terms / different name overall’ guideline were put in place then everyone would know before right from the outset that if they use a generic term for their name then others may use that term also in their names. It makes it a level playing field, and everyone knows from the outset so theres nothing for anyone to get upset about in the future. It also resolves the ‘Responsive’ name question neatly.

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Clarifying Guidelines for Theme Name

WordPress

Generic Terms

Developer name

Reserved CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Theme Names

Welcome to the Themes team!

Handbooks and review requirements

Coding standards and plugins

Code Packages

Communication

WordPress

Generic Terms

Developer name

Reserved CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Theme Names

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