Production Ready Theme

After a complete code refactor, QNRWP-A now follows WordPress standards and is ready for production work. Features of the theme are mostly the same as they were before, but the implementation is quite different.

There are two main differences. Firstly, all Posts are now News posts, regardless of the category assigned to the post. Previously, the idea was that posts could be used to represent different things, by assigning different categories. A portfolio item or a testimonial could be created with a post assigned the appropriate category and Custom Fields used for any custom data required. This meant that development of new features and content could be faster than is possible with Custom Post Types. However, this method has proven too non-standard and had to be abandoned. Now, Sample Cards, which a shortcode will render on a page, have their own custom post type, with purpose-made meta fields for card URLs.

Secondly, the standard template hierarchy is now used instead of only the “index.php” file. The stripped-down approach of using only the main template file helped to speed up development and was not missing anything in terms of feature potential. Again, the approach was too non-standard, causing problems with some of the major plugins that clients may want to use. As a result of the change, QNRWP-A is now compatible with the likes of WooCommerce, Advanced Custom Fields and SiteOrigin Page Builder. It should be compatible with all well-made plugins.

One other improvement worth mentioning is that the theme now has its own settings panel, where new options provide better control. There is a Documentation subpanel, with instructions for use of the various features.

There is no shortage of things yet to be developed in this theme, but overall, the theme is ready to “take over the world”. It is more fully featured than most themes, and can be recommended in favour of the best of them. See the About page for more details and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.