Theme Hybrid

What’s in store for Hybrid 0.7?

Justin Tadlock — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:36:15 +0000

It’s been quite a few months since the last major version update of the Hybrid theme framework. I consider this a good thing because it means that the 0.6 branch has been extremely stable.

I know some of you are also awaiting the new features that come along with new versions, so I’ll lay out what’s in store.

Hybrid “core” framework

Some people seem to think that parent themes like Hybrid are not true frameworks. Well, when it comes to Hybrid, this is not entirely true.

There is a major difference between the Hybrid Framework and the Hybrid Theme. You just don’t hear me talk about it much because I’m fairly certain the majority of Hybrid users aren’t developers and don’t want to code their own themes.

So, I want to set the record straight a bit:

The Hybrid theme is a parent theme (most of you use this), which includes the Hybrid Framework. You use child themes to customize this to your liking.
The Hybrid Framework is everything within the /hybrid/library directory of the theme. It is a complete development framework used for creating themes (not child themes).

Does this mean anything to the majority of you? Absolutely not.

The only person that has had to worry about the framework is me. But, I’ve been working overtime on making the framework ready as a separate release for hardcore theme developers. If you don’t fall under this category, disregard everything here. If you are a hardcore developer, I’ll be writing a post detailing everything about the framework in the near future.

I’m putting this under the 0.7 features because I’ll be releasing this version of the framework just after the theme release.

Context-aware hooks and classes

Many of you are aware of Hybrid’s slew of classes, which have been around from the start. These are getting a complete makeover to be more uniform and understandable. The idea for this actually came around when I decided to add contextual hooks.

What the heck is a contextual hook?

For those of you adding custom actions and filters, your lives will get much easier. For example, if you wanted to add an image before the content on the home (front) page, you’d normally have to write all of the logic into the code yourself using the is_front_page() conditional tag. Well, the logic’s being taken care of by the theme. Let’s look at what this code will now look like:

add_action( 'hybrid_home_before_content', 'your_function_name' );

function your_function_name() {
	/* Image code. */
}

There’ll be several contexts per page, creating a cascading effect. For example, that same hook on a single post with the ID of 100 would create four different hooks:

hybrid_before_content
hybrid_singular_before_content
hybrid_singular-post_before_content
hybrid_singular-post-100_before_content

So, you can latch your custom functions pretty much anywhere and write less code.

Taxonomy templates

In 0.7, all taxonomy templates will follow the same hierarchy. In WordPress, the post tag (tag.php) and category (category.php) templates follow different rules, but I don’t much like how they’re handled. Now, all taxonomy templates will follow this hierarchy:

taxonomy-$taxomy_name-$term_slug.php
taxonomy-$taxonomy_name.php
taxonomy.php

Comment templates

Another major change is that individual comment types will have their own templates. For example, regular comments will use the comment.php template while pingbacks will use the pingback.php template.

This is a major feature for those of you using things such as custom comment types. For example, you could create a file called tweetback.php to handle tweetbacks.

The comment form itself is also getting its own template called comment-form.php.

Removal of templates

The log-in.php, profile.php, and register.php templates are being removed from the theme. If you use those templates and want to keep them, please transfer them to your child theme folder at this time.

The reason I’m doing this is because the theme is not equipped to work alongside plugins that extend these things in WordPress. There are specific hooks and functions that need to be running for these to work as great as I’d like them, so I’ve decided to leave things that WordPress does great alone.

Plus, there’s plenty of plugins that will allow you to change these pages in WordPress.

Theme settings page changes

The theme settings page is getting a complete overhaul.

The first of these changes is the ability to filter out who can see the settings page. Normally, anyone with the edit_themes capability could change the settings. But, you’ll be able to filter this out and assign a specific capability through a plugin such as Members.

More credit will be given to child theme authors. The new settings page will set a footer link back to the child theme page by default. There’ll also be a link to the child theme page and description of the child theme in the “About” section of the theme settings page.

Take a look at a preview of the redesigned theme settings page. It’s quite different than before, which brings me to the third major change…

Removal of Hybrid’s SEO settings

Whether the theme or a plugin should handle SEO stuff (i.e., meta, indexing) has been a hot topic of debate. I’ve even brought it up for discussion and allowed you all to vote on the issue.

Basically, there’s been no clear decision as both sides of the debate have valid points and roughly the same number of people.

So, I decided to go with the most important factor — keeping the framework as lightweight as possible. Hybrid is meant to be extended (and, ideally, wouldn’t have an options page at all), so I’ll be coding a separate plugin for this. The current name for it is Hybrid Meta, but I’m open to alternate naming suggestions.

Don’t fret though. If you like the way Hybrid’s SEO features are set up by default and the individual post/page settings, those things will still be around. The only thing really being removed is the ability to set this stuff on the theme settings page. And, an option to turn the features on/off will be added. This way, you can decide for yourself what SEO plugin to use.

Escaping and security

I hesitate to use the word “security” here because I don’t want to cause a scare, but I do consider some of the upcoming changes to be making your site more secure on the theme side. Don’t worry though; as far as I know, there are no known security exploits at work.

Mostly, what I’ve been doing is making sure anything that’s not completely hardcoded within the files is properly escaped. An example of this would be a commenter adding some weird code in the website field. Even though WordPress does a great job at making sure nothing odd gets through, I think it’s important to be certain that things like this are escaped.

The extra escaping I’m doing includes making sure translations don’t mess something up and even trying to make sure child theme developers don’t slip up when filtering something.

Many of these changes will actually be in Hybrid 0.6.2 (should be released within a week).

And more changes

Honestly, I’m getting tired of detailing all of the changes. There’s just so many that I think I’ll save some for later. When I look at the code for version 0.6.1 and the code for 0.7, it’s like I’m looking at two different themes. Everything looks and feels the same, but under the hood, it’s a different beast entirely.

My main goal with any release is to make everything more efficient, and I’ll definitely be able to check off that goal when 0.7 is out.

Hybrid 0.7 will be released a few days after WordPress 2.9 (due out sometime in December), so there’s still a little time for me to work on the code. If you have ideas or suggestions for this particular release, don’t hold back now. Let me know what you think.

Also, feel free to hop into the 0.7 discussion topic (90+ posts and counting) in the community forums, which is open to all members.

WP Full Site: Hybrid child theme

Justin Tadlock — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:42:26 +0000

Patrick Daly of Develop Daly has released his first child theme of the Hybrid theme framework to the public: WP Full Site.

According to the description, “WP Full Site is a Hybrid child theme built for small businesses that that is tailored towards the basics of gaining customers.”

I’m a huge fan of the simplicity and structure of the design. It’s the kind of theme I’d personally use on my own sites.

If you like it, be sure to drop by and let Patrick know. Maybe even convince him to create more child themes for you all. He’s a great designer, so I’m sure you’ll like his work.

Download the theme

Before installing WP Full Site, make sure you have the latest version of the Hybrid theme installed.

Structure theme release: Version 2.0

Justin Tadlock — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:17:24 +0000

The Structure theme was discontinued in January of this year. By that time, the theme had amassed over 60,000 downloads and was the most-downloaded theme I had ever created.

I had several reasons for letting it go, but I always thought it might be a theme I’d bring back in some form.

Version 2.0 is now a child theme of the Hybrid theme framework. The theme has been returned to its purest form — a typographically-beautiful, pixel-perfect theme that should suit just about any blogger’s needs. This version is much closer to my original vision than earlier versions.

Why bring it back?

What many of you might not know is that the Hybrid framework was actually built with the original code from Structure. Nearly every project I done for over a year started with the code I had built into that theme. While other themes were discontinued at the same time, it was the only one I was a bit sad to see go.

After asking a few of you if you’d like to see it returned and reading your responses, it was a no-brainer.

Will we see the return of Options and Visionary? I know that’s probably on some of your minds, so I’ll answer that now — it’s not likely. I have no plans to bring back those themes at the moment, but you never know.

What’s different about this version?

For starters, it’s now a child theme. I suppose that’s a huge change, but there are some other differences:

It has all the features of the Hybrid theme (e.g., drop-downs, widgets everywhere, excellent code, etc.).
The code has been rebuilt from the ground up to be as lightweight as possible.
Special care has been given to the typography.
Created purely with CSS (i.e., no images were harmed in the creation of this theme).
It’s a bit wider, so there’s more breathing room for your content.
The theme has an additional widget area in the header (plus all of Hybrid’s widget areas).
It has a custom-built home page that features excerpts and thumbnails.

Download the theme

Before installing and activating the theme, make sure you’ve installed the Hybrid theme.

I hope everyone enjoys this release.

How to create your own magazine page with Hybrid

Justin Tadlock — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:09:45 +0000

One of the things I try to stress about the Hybrid theme is its flexibility. Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words all the different things you can do, even if you’re not a developer. The only real limit is your imagination.

Community member Rusti Gregory (rgregory on the site) decided to put together a great set of videos that explains how to piece together a quick magazine page.

Here’s three things to note about the video tutorials:

You don’t need to know PHP.
You don’t have to create a custom template.
Everything is done with widgets and CSS.

The tools you’ll need

To follow these videos, you should have these things installed:

Watch the video tutorials

This is a three-part series of videos titled Magazine Theme or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Plugins. Each video will walk you through the entire process.

Vote for the best 404 page

Justin Tadlock — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:55:11 +0000

At the end of July, I opened a contest to see who had the coolest, funniest, smartest 404 page. I had hoped for a few more contestants, but instead I got to see 13 great submissions to the contest.

So, it’s time to vote.

The competitors

The websites in this competition are below. The links will take you to a 404 error page on their site. This is the only thing we’re judging them on, so take a moment to decide who has the coolest, funniest, smartest 404 page.

The poll

If you have trouble seeing or using the poll below, please visit the poll page.

Hybrid Hook 0.2 makes customizing your site even easier

Justin Tadlock — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:54:54 +0000

In December, I released the first version of the Hybrid Hook plugin. It was a pretty cool plugin, but it was lacking a lot of finesse. After months of user feedback and seeing how everyone was using the plugin, I decided to give this plugin a much-needed update.

The new version will make your life much simpler, especially if you’re an average end user. Developers, you can work with this too. Just imagine setting up a client’s site and simply plugging in additional code from an admin screen. It lets you do the work but gives your client easy access to change things up.

The biggest improvement of this version is that I’ve created a few functions that will allow me to easily plug in new action hooks in the future. It’s more efficient and cleaner than the previous version.

What does the Hybrid Hook plugin do?

It provides a user interface that allows the input of custom code. Your code is then added to an action hook provided by the theme. It’s an extension of the Hybrid theme, which must be installed for this plugin to work. You plug in your code; Hybrid executes it.

Most of the hooks within Hybrid are given a textarea where you can input:

HTML
Shortcodes (new feature)
JavaScript
PHP

Version 0.2 adds a little extra to the normal setup. You can choose to execute PHP on a hook-by-hook basis as well as choose the priority you want your code to run on the hook.

New admin screen

I also gave the plugin a bit of a facelift. It should be much easier to figure out where your code will go on the site and stay organized.

Using the Hybrid Hook settings

What’s in store for the future?

Here’s a few things I have in mind for the future:

Allow editing of the output of filter hooks and not just the ability to add content to action hooks.
Add more action hooks to the settings screen.
Create a sister plugin for WordPress itself that lets you tap into the WordPress hook system.

Download the plugin

If you’re upgrading from version 0.1, your settings will be lost. I assure you this won’t happen in future versions, but it was a necessary evil with this version. The best thing to do is just save your settings to a text file and transfer them over.

This version is now hosted on the WordPress plugin repository, so you can stay updated when new versions arrive.

Full instructions are in the readme.html file, which is included with the plugin download.

Hybrid 0.7 survey results: Theme hooks

Justin Tadlock — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:20:11 +0000

In the recent Hybrid 0.7 survey, I asked about action and filter hooks in the theme. This was the least-answered question because most people don’t have to use hooks or have no idea what they are. It’s more of a developer feature (though not limited to developers). The question was:

What new hooks (filter hooks and action hooks) need to be implemented within the theme? Where? Why?

In this post, I’ll run through some of the answers and give my reply.

Include options for hooks in the admin panel

This is not a bad idea at all. I wonder why I didn’t think of that.

Seriously, there’s already two plugins that do this — Hybrid Hook and Hybrid Hook Widgets. The former gives you admin screen with tons of options. The latter adds widget areas to several select action hooks. I encourage you to give them a try.

I don’t like the idea of this as part of the core theme though. Hybrid is meant to be a lightweight framework, which should be extended through things such as plugin and child themes. It’s not supposed to be a powerhouse, all-in-one package.

I’d like to see a “inside content hook”

WordPress already has one for you. It’s the_content and is used by many, many plugins and themes.

More comment area hooks

I definitely agree that the comments template and functions related to it need more hooks, especially filter hooks. In fact, it’s one of the first things I brought up in the Hybrid 0.7 discussion thread.

I could really use some more feedback on what hooks you want to see here. Feel free to post your ideas in the comments or the 0.7 discussion thread.

A visual overview of the hooks

This probably belongs under the documentation question, but it’s definitely something we need. I’m currently working on this and will be adding it to the hooks documentation as soon as possible.

I have no idea what this means.

This is definitely my favorite answer. Hooks are a way for you to add custom content to WordPress, the Hybrid theme, and some plugins without touching the core code. This allows you to easily keep up with upgrades without losing your customizations.

The truth is that not everyone needs to know how to use the WordPress hook system. It’s mainly for developers. But, if you really want to learn a little and customize your blog to your heart’s content, you need to learn the basics. Hooks, especially action hooks, are simple to use.

Here’s some resources for using the action and filter hooks in Hybrid:

Your thoughts

Even though the survey is now over, feel free to leave additional comments about action and filter hooks you’d like to see. I’m always open to suggestions.

Stay tuned for the next post on the survey results. I’ll be covering what you all consider “flaws” in the current Hybrid theme.

Hybrid 0.7 survey results

Justin Tadlock — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:21:24 +0000

A few weeks ago, I opened the Hybrid 0.7 survey to get feedback on the next major release of the Hybrid theme framework.

This survey was a bit different than my typical survey because it only had four multiple-choice questions. The remaining six questions called for more detailed user input. A large reason for this is because Hybrid is at a point where ideas matter more than a ton of yes/no questions.

I wanted to get people involved with the project. To let voices be heard. Let you have an opinion about the future of the theme.

Since the last six questions can’t be represented in any real way in tabular results, I’m splitting those results into a series of posts. In each post, I’ll address your ideas the best I can. While I can’t reply to every individual answer, I’ll do my best to cover most of the general ideas.

The survey results

I’ve put together a chart with the results, so you can take a look at this in a nicely-formatted way:

Survey Results

The biggest question still hovering around is whether Hybrid 0.7 will keep its SEO features. Since the results are so close, the best option I see is to leave everything as it is now. There wasn’t enough of a gap between the answers to come up with a solution that would please everyone. This isn’t necessarily the final decision, but it is likely what we’ll see in 0.7.

Go ahead a take a look at the survey results and expect more-detailed posts on the last six questions this week.

A little slice of Hybrid-theme history

Justin Tadlock — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:52:31 +0000

While looking over my stats for the Hybrid theme on the WordPress theme directory, I realized Hybrid was exactly tied with the theme that was currently the 15th most popular theme on the directory at 1,788 downloads. I refreshed the page a few moments later, and the theme had gained a few more downloads.

Hybrid finally cracked the top 15 themes on the theme directory, which I consider a great achievement.

Just in case it gets pushed out of the top 15 and never makes it back again, here’s a screenshot, so we can savor this moment:

Hybrid breaks into the top 15 themes on the theme directory

Three theme frameworks in the top 15

Hybrid isn’t the first theme framework to break into the top 15 though. Ian Stewart’s Thematic and Alex King’s Carrington Blog (built off the Carrington framework) have both been in the spotlight for a while.

Earlier this year, I said it would be The Year of the Theme Framework, and it’s looking like that prediction is coming true.

What are the benefits of the theme being in the top 15?

While it’s obvious that we might get more converts to the theme club, there’s ways you all benefit too. More people see the top 15 themes, which means we get more people using it. More people using it creates:

More people to catch bugs I overlook.
More ideas on how to make the theme better.
More people that might be willing to help others on the support forums.
More sites on the showcase blog to use for inspiration.

Anyway, I’m going to enjoy this moment.

Hybrid theme release: Version 0.6.1

Justin Tadlock — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:43:50 +0000

Version 0.6 of the Hybrid theme framework has been one of the solidest releases we’ve had yet. It’s been nearly two months since the last release, which I consider a good thing.

Of course, there’s always a bug or two, so it’s time for a maintenance release to fix pretty much every bug that has been reported in the last two months.

Bug fixes

Here’s a list of the bugs that have been squashed in this release:

Custom field series extension didn’t display a value.
User role class in comments needed an extra check for an array.
Paged class bug.
Open within the Tags widget settings.
Duplicate category and post_tag classes removed.
Missing s in
in the blog.php page template.
Sometimes, extra commas were displayed for custom taxonomies depending on the theme settings and user setup.
Wrong variable in the Bookmarks widget — $show_images changed to $show_name.

Okay, so eight bugs seems like a lot to me, but most of these only manifested in specific scenarios. I would consider only the first bug listed as a high-priority bug. All that beta testing everyone did before the initial release of 0.6 definitely paid off.

General changes to the theme

These things aren’t classified as bugs, but needed changing to satisfy a few areas that needed touching up.

The comments.php now uses admin_url( 'profile.php' ), which is filterable, to link to the user’s profile.
Added the hybrid_disable_pagenavi_style() function to account for changes in the WP PageNavi plugin.
Changed Hybrid’s profile URI back to http://gmpg.org/xfn/11.

Update your theme

Take a few minutes to upgrade to the latest version.

With the built-in theme upgrader for WordPress, this should be as simple as going to your themes control panel and upgrading Hybrid. If you’re not a fan of the upgrader, just download a fresh copy of the theme (version 0.6.1), delete your old copy, and upload the new one.