Support for theme changelogs

[Daedalon]

Plugins' changelogs are shown in the WordPress plugin repository in tabs, eg. ​http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/events-manager/changelog/.

Plugins' changelogs are also linked to when viewing available updates in WP-admin, so the siteadmins can know if the update could mess with their customizations.

Theme changelogs are not visible in either place. They should be supported in both places. Also ​http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Review should be updated to reflect that the theme changelogs are much recommended if not mandatory to use and to specify the exact format for them. Currently it uses language that is not clear for those who don't speak English as their first language: "In lieu of..." and then "...Themes are recommended to include a changelog", which doesn't let the theme author know what format should the changelog be in.

At the moment I've seen changelogs for themes in different formats, but none of them is supported.

Summary of the issues:

1. Add support for theme changelogs on ​https://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ theme pages in tabs.
2. Add support for theme changelogs in wp-admin theme list views.
3. Clarify Theme Review codex page on the supported format(s) and use more simple English than "in lieu of".

[scribu]

+1 on all 3 proposals.

[sabreuse]

+1 to support for changelogs in extend and the admin -- but note that changes to the Theme Review Guidelines, as well as any language suggestions, should be brought up over at ​http://make.wordpress.org/themes

[mario-siteground]

The part for the WordPress.org website has been reported in ​the Meta Trac as well.

[Daedalon]

Sabreuse, thanks for the tip. What other ways are there to bring this to the discussion of the Theme Review Team besides joining a mailing list (which we won't do to avoid spam), IRC (not suitable) or commenting on an unrelated topic on the blog (not appropriate)?

Their Trac seems to be only for reviewing themes and they don't accept new tickets by the community related to the theme process in general. It stands to reason that this and other issues are still open as there's no way for the community to initiate discussion without subscribing to a mailing list. People like us who want to contribute suggestions without getting spammed with all discussions don't currently have a way to contribute.

As it stands, the TRT is a semi-closed circle for us.

Ironically, the officially proper place for this comment would probably be the mailing list, which isn't applicable for the above reasons. Hopefully someone would pick this up from here or suggest a viable alternative.

[markoheijnen]

IRC would be the best way I guess. Also you can create a new e-mail account for mailing lists. In this case contributing back would mean adding code to WordPress.org and not to core. I would not say it's sem-closed because you can join the mailinglist or IRC if you want.

Also Mario mentioned the Trac of the Meta team. That is focussed on things related to WordPress.org.

[jcastaneda]

Discussion has begun: ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/04/26/changelog-proposal/

[usability.idealist]

Because this ​was suggested to take up in the Theme Review "blog" - after reading through all of this, the question arises: If none of the used changelog formats work - WHAT is the actual expected one? Markdown?

In the case of Markdown, all would be easy. Just simple lists, with h2 or h3 headlines in between to section each release .. and end of story.

And because lots of folks already use Github and other stuff .. no real transition needed ;)

cu, w0lf.

[jcastaneda]

As it stands, the TRT is a semi-closed circle for us.

Never closed. :) Always welcome!

Ironically, the officially proper place for this comment would probably be the mailing list,

Not anymore, we did away with that. We now use ​Slack and our ​blog for communication.

We're taking a second look at using the readme format used by plugins and using only those parts that would benefit themes. Just glad there is some overlap between the two. :) That discussion is: ​https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2015/04/29/a-revised-readme/

[Daedalon]

Great to hear of the developments regarding both this ticket and TRT's reachability!

[SergeyBiryukov]

Related: #36971

[SergeyBiryukov]

#45304 was marked as a duplicate.

[Harm10]

I am really astounded that such a good and simple idea is still not realized after 7 years!
Does no one realize that such a feature would greatly increase the update safety?

For the important plug-ins I use, I always read the changelog before updating. The same should at least be valid for the active theme!

For example theme Enigma that recently changed its structure because of new (or enforced) Home setting rules lead to my site having several features no longer working and even more important a totally jumbled up Home page (the first impression of your site). This got corrected in the end but I had to revert the update for a while there.

I understand that due to structure differences in the way the plug-ins and themes are saved on WP org that this is not as easy to implement as it feels.

But surely WP this would also offer serious theme makers the opportunity to offer their product in a safer way and as such leading to less support questions?

[loadofbikes]

Just wanted to add my support for this request.

I first submitted a feature request on the page of the theme I use, but learned that it wasn't the theme's issue, but a WordPress issue.

I want to echo Harm10's reasons: Having the changelog readily available will help with checking if an update breaks anything, as it indicates where to expect changes.

Thank you all who are or will be working on this - it is very much appreciated!

[waterfire]

I guess I'm late to the party here, but I'd also like to confirm that this seems like an important change and it's a shame that it hasn't been solved in over 9 years.

[Harm10]

Replying to waterfire:

I guess I'm late to the party here, but I'd also like to confirm that this seems like an important change and it's a shame that it hasn't been solved in over 9 years.

Finally someone that supports this! But will development notice?

[michelyweb]

Changelog is really important i think. I am shocked this issue is 9 years old!

[poena]

#61357 was marked as a duplicate.

[poena]

I believe the first step remains the same, to agree on a format that can be parsed.
The ​discussion seems to favor using the same format as plugins.

Step two may be designing the interface where the changelog would be displayed inside WordPress.
This design could also take into account displaying other parts of the readme, please see
https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36971#comment:26