Title: report – Make WordPress Themes --- # Tag Archives: report [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/) [Carolina Nymark](https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/) 4:12 pm _on_ January 5, 2021 Tags: report, [Themes team ( 207 )](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/themes-team/) # 󠀁[Evaluation: Report button usage in 2020](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2021/01/05/evaluation-report-button-usage-in-2020/)󠁿 Every theme in the theme directory has an information page that includes a report button: [⌊The report button is placed on the right hand sidebar on the theme information page.⌉⌊The report button is placed on the right hand sidebar on the theme information page.⌉[ When a user clicks the button, they are presented with a form where they can add additional details. [Example report form](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/report-theme/). The purpose of the report button is to allow users to report themes that have major problems like installation issues, PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. [https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php](https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php) errors and JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. [https://www.javascript.com](https://www.javascript.com/) errors. The idea behind the feature was that if the themes team could encourage users to report broken themes, the team could reduce the number of requirements and have a more reactionary approach rather than preventive. [Original Trac ticket](https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/3626). This feature was [first discussed in 2015](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/09/17/theme-submission-review-approval-update-report-workflow/) and added in 2018 but has not been evaluated since. ## Why we need to evaluate the button usage The themes team representatives have to manually check each report and are seeing an increase in incorrect support requests. Theme authors are also using the button to contact the themes team with other types of questions and requests. For each incorrect use of the button, the support request needs to be replied to and or forwarded to the theme author _(with information about the reporter removed)_. This is extra work in addition to handling the valid theme reports. In 2020, there was a backlog of reports up to 4 months long, and the most critical reports were prioritized. ## Reports submitted in 2020 The data the team has available shows that there were** 582 reports** in 2020. * **80 **reports were spam or duplicates (One user submitted 39 spam reports). * **40 **reports were for the default themes. * **30 **reports were in Spanish, and other languages included French, Italian, and German. * **49** reports mentioned problems occurring after updating the theme to the latest version or updating WordPress to 5.3 – 5.5. * **30** reports mentioned CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. problems. * **11** reports concerned jQuery or jQuery migrate. * **9** reports were used to request that a theme would be removed from the theme directory or updated because it had not been updated in a long time. The two most reported themes had 14 reports each. ### Support requests **315 reports** were support requests, that is, invalid use of the report button. Most of the reports were questions about “How to…” Common topics of the reports marked as support requests: * **33** PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. compatibility problems * **27 **Support requests for paid versions of the theme * **19** Difficulty with finding and downloading demo content ### Valid reports **187 reports** were considered valid reports that needed follow-ups, including collecting more information or testing. Out of the valid reports, the reporter selected the following reason for filing reports: * **108** Other * **50 **PHP or JavaScript problems * **19** Hacks * **16** Content creation * **13** Plugin territory * **12** Obtrusive upselling, advertising * **9** Licensing (A theme can be reported for more than one reason.) ## Conclusion With over **62%** of the reports being support requests, we can draw the conclusion that the report button is not being used correctly. Without a measurable goal for the usage of the report button, it is not possible to determine if the button can live up to its original intended purpose. With 187 valid reports per year and 8 010 themes in the theme directory, the number of reports is too low for the team to be able to review themes based on user reports. The valid reports, including a small number of critical theme security issues, still shows that the report functionality is important. ## Discussion -How can we best use the report button? We want your help with answering the following questions before the team meeting on January 26, 2021. Please reply with comments below. * How can we reduce the number of support requests through the report button? * Are there other formats than a report button with a link to a form that we should consider? There is also a related TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/). ticket about [converting reports to support forum topics](https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5542). [#report](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/report/), [#themes-team](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/themes-team/) * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fthemes%2F2021%2F01%2F05%2Fevaluation-report-button-usage-in-2020%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/) [Carolina Nymark](https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/) 5:54 pm _on_ October 7, 2019 Tags: report, review weekend    # 󠀁[Review weekend summary](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2019/10/07/review-weekend-summary/)󠁿 We held our first [review weekend](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2019/10/03/review-weekend/) after a long time. Here are some statistics from the event: * 0 new themes were set live. * 0 new themes were approved. * 8 themes from the approved but not live queue were reviewed and reopened. * 1 AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” ( i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Accessibility) ready review was started. * 7 themes were closed as not approved _(this included duplicates)._ Several themes in the new queue were reviewed and are now awaiting updates from the theme author. We did not have a zoom meeting because there was no interest at the time. The team reps also did some general administration and maintenance of the themes TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/). and the blog. We continued the work on the Theme SnifferTheme Sniffer Theme Sniffer is a plugin utilizing custom sniffs for [PHP_CodeSniffer](https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer) that statically analyzes your theme and ensures that it adheres to WordPress coding conventions, as well as checking your code against PHP version compatibility. The plugin is available from [GitHub.](https://github.com/WPTRT/theme-sniffer) Themes are not required to pass the Theme Sniffer scan without warnings or errors to be included in the theme directory. and the [color control package](https://github.com/WPTRT/control-color-alpha). --- ## The next shindig is planned for November 2. We hope that we will be able to announce details of the next event ahead of time and that it will raise more interest. If you would like to host a discussion, Q&A or group chat to introduce new reviewers, or if you have suggestions for topics, do let us know in the comments. [#report](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/report/), [#review-weekend](https://make.wordpress.org/themes/tags/review-weekend/) * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fthemes%2F2019%2F10%2F07%2Freview-weekend-summary%2F%23respond&locale=en_US)