Recent changes
Wednesday November 04 2026
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Keeping dependencies up to date Updated Markdown page
Keep the libraries, fonts, icon sets and extensions a theme depends on current - an inventory, where updates are announced, testing an update, and checking licenses again.
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Deprecating a setting or a template Updated Markdown page
Step by step - rename a theme setting while still reading the old name, replace a template while keeping an include of the old one, and remove both later - with the changelog entries for each step.
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A deprecation policy Updated Markdown page
Decide and publish how your theme retires settings, templates, view modes and operators - announce, keep working, warn, remove in a later step - so users have time to adapt.
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End of life Updated Markdown page
End maintenance of a theme responsibly - decide, look for a successor or new maintainer first, give notice, publish a last release, keep it installable, and archive - so users are never stranded without warning.
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Following Exponential releases Updated Markdown page
Where to watch for changes that affect a theme - the changelogs in doc/changelogs, release tags and GitHub releases of the repository, the upgrade notes in doc/eng-us/bc, project news and RSS - and a weekly routine.
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Forking a theme Updated Markdown page
When to fork a theme and when to contribute instead, how to fork with history so you can still exchange changes, what the GPL asks of a fork, and how to tell users what your fork is.
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Handling security reports Updated Markdown page
What to do from the moment a security report arrives - acknowledge, reproduce privately, assess, fix, release, credit - and what to do when the report arrives in a public issue.
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Handing a theme over to a new maintainer Updated Markdown page
Pass a theme to a new maintainer so users notice nothing but continuity - choosing someone, a handover period, documentation, access, the repository and package, and announcing it.
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JavaScript library upgrades (jQuery 4, no YUI) Updated Markdown page
Bring a theme's JavaScript up to date with the libraries Exponential ships - jQuery 4.0.0 with Migrate and jQuery UI 1.14.2 through ezjscore, YUI removed - what to search for, what to replace, and how to test.
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Keeping a fork in sync Updated Markdown page
Bring the original theme's fixes into your fork regularly - an upstream remote, fetch and merge, resolving conflicts in templates, and keeping your own changes small so merges stay easy.
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Checklist: one maintenance cycle Updated Markdown page
One maintenance cycle of a theme as a checklist - watch, test, audit, fix, release, communicate - each item linked to the page that explains it.
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The maintenance life cycle: start here Updated Markdown page
The map for keeping a theme alive after its first release - following Exponential releases, upgrade testing, per-release accessibility, CSP and performance audits, security fixes, deprecation, end of life, handover…
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A maintenance calendar Updated Markdown page
A rhythm for theme maintenance - weekly watching, per-release testing and audits, quarterly dependency and license reviews, a yearly review of support policy and compatibility - as a calendar to adapt.
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A performance audit for every release Updated Markdown page
Check that a release did not make the theme slower - page weight, number of requests, image sizes, layout shift and largest contentful paint on the page list - and compare with the previous release.
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PHP version compatibility Updated Markdown page
Keep a theme's PHP code (operators, modules, classes) working on every PHP version Exponential supports - PHP 8.0 is the oldest, PHP 7.4 usable without support - with php -l per version, what typically breaks, and how…
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Publishing a security release Updated Markdown page
Release a security fix for a theme - fix, version, tag and release first, then describe the problem plainly with affected versions and the action users must take, and tell the channels where your users are.
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Pull requests to someone else's theme Updated Markdown page
Prepare a pull request that a maintainer can merge quickly - small and focused, explained, tested, with screenshots for visual changes and no unrelated or private content - and how to respond to review.
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Reading a changelog as a designer Updated Markdown page
What to look for in an Exponential changelog when you maintain a theme - templates you override, design settings, operators, JavaScript libraries, security headers, PHP versions, accessibility - with real examples from…
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Rebranding a fork, fairly Updated Markdown page
Give a forked theme its own identity without erasing its origin - a new name, package and design name, kept notices and license, a visible "based on" credit, and no implied endorsement - with what to change in which…
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Removing inline scripts and styles Updated Markdown page
Move a maintained theme toward a strict Content Security Policy - find inline script blocks, event handler attributes, javascript: links and style attributes, move them into files and data attributes - following how the…