creationell Theme

Version: 0.3.0

Requires at least: 7.1

Tested up to: 7.1

Requires PHP: 8.3

Classic WordPress theme of creationell with Bootstrap 5, based on Bootscore (MIT). PHP templates render the pages; the block editor and the Bootstrap blocks of creationell work in the content area. Projects keep their changes in a child theme, so the theme itself can be updated.

Requirements

• WordPress 7.1 or later
• PHP 8.3 or later
• Recommended: the plugin CreaBootstrapBlocks for the Bootstrap blocks in the content area (see CreaBootstrapBlocks)

Installation

1. Upload the theme folder creationell-wp-theme to wp-content/themes/.
2. Upload a child theme next to it. The child theme template creationell-wp-child-theme ships separately. Copy it and keep the folder creationell-wp-child-theme in every project; write the project name into its Theme Name only.
3. Activate the child theme under Appearance > Themes. WordPress then uses this theme as the parent theme.

The folder name creationell-wp-theme must not change: it is the slug that child themes and updates refer to. Activating the theme stores no options; every function starts with its default.

Child theme

A child theme holds everything that belongs to one project: logos, project styles, template overrides and the defaults and locks of the theme functions. Its style.css keeps Template: creationell-wp-theme, Update URI: false and the header Bootstrap Lines, which names the Bootstrap major versions its project styles support. The README of the child theme template lists what a child theme may and may not change; wp creationell-theme child check checks a child theme against these rules.

A child theme sets defaults and locks through two filters in its functions.php:

• creationell_wp_theme_modules: the state of each module, as default (the site may change it) or locked (the site cannot).
• creationell_wp_theme_settings: defaults and locks of the theme settings in the same form.

add_filter(
	'creationell_wp_theme_modules',
	static function ( mixed $modules ): mixed {
		$modules = is_array( $modules ) ? $modules : array();
		$modules['woocommerce'] = array( 'locked' => 'off' );
		return $modules;
	}
);

The logos in assets/img/logo/ and screenshot.png are placeholders. A child theme replaces the logos with files of the same name in its assets/img/logo/ and shows its own screenshot.png; assets/README.md names the filters for another logo URL and size.

To override a template, copy it from this theme to the same path in the child theme, for example template-parts/header/main-menu.php, and change the copy. Prefer a filter or an action of the theme where one exists: a copied template does not receive later fixes of the original.

Modules

Optional functions of the theme are modules: blocks, integrations with plugins, the cookie banner. Every module is off until a site or its child theme switches it on. wp creationell-theme module list shows the state of every module and where it comes from. The order of precedence, lowest first: the default off, the default of the child theme, the state switched in the backend, the lock of the child theme and the constant CREATIONELL_WP_THEME_MODULE_<SLUG> in wp-config.php, for example:

define( 'CREATIONELL_WP_THEME_MODULE_CONTACT_FORM_7', 'active' );

modules/README.md lists the modules, their states and the folder convention.

Where to set what

One place per setting; editors change texts and, with the module header-footer, header and footer, administrators the rest.

What	Where	Who
Header and footer (layout, blocks, order)	Module header-footer active: Header & Footer in the admin menu, which opens the parts in the Site Editor; module off: the PHP header and footer of the theme, changed only in a child theme	editors and administrators; a child theme can keep them with the administrators
Footer text, contact data, social media links	Theme settings > Texts, per language with WPML	editors and administrators; a child theme can keep them with the administrators (revoke['basic'])
Menus of header and footer	Appearance > Menus (with the module: Header & Footer > Menus)	administrators; editors only with the module active and the menus unlocked by the child theme, and then only these two menus
Colors and fonts	Theme settings > Design; never in the Site Editor (its styles have no effect)	administrators; editors when the child theme unlocks the design
Modules	Theme settings > Modules	administrators; editors when the child theme unlocks the modules

Updates

The theme updates itself from the update manifest named by its Update URI header, not from wordpress.org. WordPress shows a new version on the updates screen like any other theme update; the theme checks the package (https, checksum, requirements, Bootstrap line) before WordPress installs it. Automatic updates of the theme are locked: an administrator installs every update by hand, after a backup and a look at the changelog.

wp creationell-theme update status shows the installed and the offered version and why no update is offered. A test site may predefine CREATIONELL_WP_THEME_MANIFEST_URL in wp-config.php with another https URL; administrators then see a notice that the site uses a test manifest.

The theme uses the Bootstrap line 5 (Bootstrap 5). The constant CREATIONELL_WP_THEME_BOOTSTRAP_LINE holds a line for a site; a line that this theme version does not include keeps line 5, and wp creationell-theme doctor names the reason.

Translations

The texts of the theme are English, with the text domain creationell-wp-theme. The folder languages/ holds the template creationell-wp-theme.pot and German translations in two forms of address: de_DE (informal) and de_DE_formal (formal). WordPress loads them when the site language is one of these. Further languages are translated per project with WPML; wpml-config.xml tells WPML which theme data to translate.

Texts of the theme in further languages go through WPML String Translation (domain creationell-wp-theme); texts the consent banner shows come from PHP as well. From 0.3.0 on, each changelog entry lists under "New or changed texts" what was added or changed, so these languages can follow.

Accessibility

The templates aim at WCAG 2.2 level AA: labelled forms, named landmarks and dialogs, skip links, menu items with a submenu as a link plus a toggle button, visible focus rings that the sticky header does not hide, colors with a contrast of at least 4.5:1, and inline icons that assistive technology skips or names. The design settings refuse color pairs below the required contrast. In the dark color mode (data-bs-theme="dark" on the page or on a part of it) the focus ring uses the primary color, lightened where needed to reach 3:1 on the dark page and on its tertiary background; a child theme can set $focus-ring-color-dark in _project-variables.scss.

CreaBootstrapBlocks

The theme loads Bootstrap for the Bootstrap blocks of the plugin CreaBootstrapBlocks. While the theme is active it defines the constants CREA_BOOTSTRAP_BLOCKS_BOOTSTRAP_CSS, CREA_BOOTSTRAP_BLOCKS_BOOTSTRAP_JS and CREA_BOOTSTRAP_BLOCKS_BOOTSTRAP_ICONS as false, so the plugin loads no second Bootstrap. A constant that wp-config.php sets to true stays, and administrators see a notice; so does a Bootstrap version of the plugin that differs from the one of the theme. The theme stylesheet and the Bootstrap bundle load before the assets of the plugin. The Bootstrap Icons font loads with the plugin active or when the filter creationell_wp_theme_load_icon_font returns true.

Leaving the theme

After switching to another theme, switch the Bootstrap stylesheet, script and icons on again in the settings of CreaBootstrapBlocks, unless the new theme loads Bootstrap itself.

Import and export of settings

The page Theme settings > Import/Export exports the theme settings and the module states as a JSON file, per language on WPML sites, and imports such a file after a preview that lists every value with its result. Before every import and restore the theme backs up the current settings; it keeps the last five backups, and each one can be restored the same way. A log keeps who exported, imported, restored or backed up which sections for 90 days, without values.

• Opening the page needs the capability to view the advanced settings; export, import, restore and "Back up now" need creationell_wp_theme_import_export. Other users see the backups only.
• Sensitive values are never exported. The Bootstrap line, capabilities and unlocks are never imported. Every value goes through the same checks as the settings pages (type, locks, contrast); rejected values stay as they are and the result lists them.
• Switching a module that published contents use needs an explicit confirmation in the preview.
• Files have at most 1 MB and end in .json; nothing is stored in the media library.

Command line

The theme adds the WP-CLI command wp creationell-theme. The commands below only read; each one has --format=json for scripts.

Command	Shows
wp creationell-theme doctor	Health of the theme: version and requirements, update manifest, Bootstrap line, CreaBootstrapBlocks, child theme, consent, WPML; problems as warnings
wp creationell-theme module list	Every module with its state and the reason
wp creationell-theme module status <slug>	One module in detail
wp creationell-theme child check [<path>]	Findings of a child theme against the child theme rules
wp creationell-theme update status	Installed and offered version, manifest state
wp creationell-theme wpml status	State of the WPML integration

For developers

• src/README.md: the theme core in src/ (loading, naming, public functions such as creationell_wp_theme_module_state() and creationell_wp_theme_setting()).
• inc/README.md: the template helpers in inc/ and their filters.
• assets/README.md: stylesheets, scripts, images and vendored libraries.
• modules/README.md: the module catalog and the folder convention.

Every function, class, method and hook of the theme has a PHPDoc block in English; phpdoc.xml builds the API documentation with phpDocumentor 3.

Files

• style.css: theme header; Version is the only version source.
• functions.php: loads src/loader.php, which loads the theme core in src/ and the template helpers in inc/.
• theme.json: editor settings; the color palette refers to the Bootstrap custom properties.
• PHP templates in the theme root, template-parts/, page-templates/ and single-templates/; block patterns in patterns/.
• assets/css/bootstrap-5/theme.min.css: compiled stylesheet (Bootstrap 5 and the theme styles from assets/scss/); root-vars.min.css: its root custom properties for the editor screens; build.json: Bootstrap line, fingerprint and component versions of the build.
• assets/js/theme.js: theme script; assets/vendor/: vendored Bootstrap, Bootstrap Icons and further libraries with their licenses.
• assets/img/logo/: placeholder logos for the light and the dark color scheme; screenshot.png: placeholder preview for Appearance > Themes.
• lib/: PHP libraries of the stylesheet compiler, in their own namespace.
• languages/: translation template and German translations.
• modules/: the theme modules.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later, see LICENSE. Licenses of the included third-party code: THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.

Changelog

0.3.0

• Fonts and languages: the design page warns when a font of the design settings does not cover a language of the site, with the scripts or the characters that are missing. The check uses the character lists of Unicode CLDR for 14 languages, among them Arabic, Persian, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Japanese; the section settings of wp creationell-theme doctor lists the same gaps. The font catalog knows the script cjk. Font stacks whose first name would break the font faces and unicode ranges that browsers drop as a whole are reported.
• Pages with a search block no longer scroll sideways. WordPress loads a width for the search label after the theme stylesheet; the hidden label became as wide as the page (2216 px at a 1280 px window). Visually hidden texts now keep the Bootstrap rules with !important while they have no focus, so focus rules of child themes and plugins (.screen-reader-text:focus) still show them.
• The "read more" link of the post cards is at least 24 px high (WCAG 2.5.8). Under cards without an excerpt it takes a few pixels more height.
• Translations: the texts of the theme can be translated in WPML String Translation; see "Translations" above. Right to left was checked in Arabic and Persian with all blocks of CreaBootstrapBlocks: use CreaBootstrapBlocks 1.0.3 or later, it mirrors the left and right spacing of its blocks.

New or changed texts

• The font "%1$s" (%2$s) does not cover %3$s: the script %4$s is missing. (plural: … the scripts %4$s are missing.)
• The font "%1$s" (%2$s) does not cover %3$s: these characters are missing: %4$s
• (and %d more)
• Latin, Latin Extended, Vietnamese, Cyrillic, Arabic, CJK (Chinese and Japanese)

0.2.2

• Fonts of the child theme load now. A font the child adds to the font catalog (filter creationell_wp_theme_font_catalog) with files in assets/fonts/ gets its font-face rules, with font-display: swap and the unicode range of the entry. Before, the stylesheet asked for the font but WordPress printed no font-face rule, so browsers showed the system font. Nothing to do after the update.

0.2.1

• After a theme update the site keeps its own colours, fonts and texts. Before, the front end showed the defaults and the scheduled build switched to the package stylesheet until the stylesheet was rebuilt by hand. Sites that updated to 0.2.0 and still show the default colours need one wp creationell-theme css build or the button of the admin notice.

0.2.0

• Rights in the backend: the new page Theme settings > Rights lets an administrator choose per area whether editors may use it (design, modules, import and export, menus of header and footer; texts and header and footer the other way round) and which administrators are restricted. The values of the filter creationell_wp_theme_capabilities are defaults now; the new key locked keeps an entry as the child theme sets it. Import and export never carry rights.
• The theme settings menu starts with Texts, then Design, Modules, Import/Export and Rights; the empty entry of the main page is gone.
• Dark colour mode (data-bs-theme="dark"): outline buttons and field borders take colours derived from the primary colour that keep 4.5:1 and 3:1 on the dark surfaces.
• Cookie banner: the arrows of the preferences dialog and the locked switch of "necessary" reach the contrast for controls; the help text of the imprint page names where the privacy policy page comes from.
• Bootstrap carousel: the control icons sit on a dark disc and show the focus ring of the theme.
• Search block: the button keeps the Bootstrap size (it took the global button styles of WordPress before).
• Widget editor: blocks show the fonts and the look of the front end, also in the widgets of the Customizer.
• Categories and latest posts blocks: the list group classes go on single tags; category classes, names with parentheses and the class of the post title stay whole, and the title is the one stretched link of an item.
• The block editor loads no blocks and no patterns from the WordPress.org directories.
• WPML: wp creationell-theme wpml status reports when WPML has not loaded the configuration of the theme; the editor hint of header and footer tells stored and file parts apart.

0.1.1

• Right to left: the package ships theme-rtl.min.css, which WordPress loads for languages written right to left (Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, ...). While such a language is active, the stylesheet of the design settings gets a right-to-left copy as well; the new fingerprint makes installed sites build their individual stylesheet once. After a right-to-left language is switched on, it gets the package stylesheet without the design colours until the stylesheet is rebuilt (saving the design settings or wp creationell-theme css build; doctor warns). An editor whose profile language is written right to left sees the package stylesheet without the design colours in the editor of a left-to-right site.
• Saving the design settings replaces the left-to-right and the right-to-left stylesheet as one change: when one of them cannot be written, neither is replaced.

0.1.0

• First development version: installable theme with the compiled Bootstrap 5 stylesheet, the Bootstrap bundle and the theme script.
• CreaBootstrapBlocks runs on the Bootstrap of the theme; Bootstrap Icons font, child theme stylesheet and editor canvas styles.
• Accessibility: labelled forms, named landmarks and dialogs, menu items with submenu as link plus toggle button, visible focus rings, colours with at least 4.5:1, a real top button, focus kept clear of the sticky header; inline icons from Bootstrap Icons; patterns without external images.
• Hardening: core HTML filters for term and author descriptions stay, links in comments are no longer rewritten, no shortcodes in menu titles.
• Stylesheet rebuilt after the update of the CSS parser to 9.5.0: same rules, shorter output; the new fingerprint makes installed sites build their individual stylesheet once. Child theme SCSS: the parser now accepts @container, @layer and the modern colour syntax; an IE hack such as width: 100px\9 is no longer rejected but compiles to a tab character.