- As we are discussing how we can improve the Theme Review process it would be good to see how our process compares to the Plugin Review process. It would help both teams to align so that we could both profit from improvements made to either system. Both processes are always changing. Parts of the process today may change tomorrow. The plugin review team is working on making the plugin review process public so that others can contribute.
| Review Process | Themes | Plugins |
|---|---|---|
| Submission | zip file | zip file |
| Review management | in trac (Public) | in the WordPress admin area (Private) |
| Review updates | via trac | via email |
| Reviewers | Anyone with a w.org account | select group of experienced reviewers (will change in the future but only experienced reviewers will communicate with the developers) |
| Number of reviewers | varied between 10 – 30 active reviewers | 5-6 reviewers |
| Experience level of reviewers | variable | highly experienced |
| Reviewer training | regular | not needed |
| Order of reviews | order of submission | order of complexity of the plugin |
| Volunteer time | minimal sponsored time | sufficient time sponsored |
| Approval | A final review is done by an experienced reviewer before going live | The review approves the theme and then the developer must commit the code to SVN |
| Theme Updates | Via zip files | via SVN |
| Theme update reviews | only automated reviews | no additional reviews |
| Feedback on the review process | Anyone can give feedback and work to improve the review process | The small group of reviewers make the decisions |
| Automated Testing | checking for common issues | simple testing for PHP errors |
| Requirements | A single detailed document of all of the requirements. | Multiple pages on the guidelines: The general guidelines, a reviewer’s checklist and a page explaining how to check for these items. |
My learnings from this have been:
- A small highly experienced team with the resources can sometimes been more effective than a larger team.
- Having separate information for developers and reviewers may change the public perception of the number of requirements.
- As the plugin and theme reviewers are looking for similar issues it may be better to work together to unify some of the documentation.