Better WordPress Theme Onboarding.
Merlin WP is my stab at addressing the tedious and exhausting WordPress theme setup and onboarding process. It makes installing a new WordPress theme, its recommended WordPress plugins, Customizer settings, widgets, and demo content, an exciting and gratifying user experience.
Read about Merlin WP here: https://richtabor.com/merlin-wp
Merlin WP is currently in beta, it's not suggested to use Merlin WP in live products just yet. There's still a few kinks and features to be added. If you run into anything, raise an issue and let's work on it.
In the package, I've included a fork of one of my themes, York Pro, with Merlin WP already integrated. If you want to run a live test of Merlin WP, install this theme anywhere and give it a spin.
The open source license is designed for you to use Merlin WP to build open source and personal projects. The Merlin WP open source license is GPLv3. The GPLv3 has many terms, but the most important is how it is sticky when you distribute your work publicly. From the GPL FAQ:
If you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.
Releasing your project that uses Merlin WP under the GPLv3, in turn, requires your project to be licensed under the GPLv3.
Let's get you set up to use Merlin WP! First off, download and add the add the unzipped /merlin/ folder (within the /dist/ directory) and the merlin-config.php file into your theme. Next, include the Merlin class (merlin/merlin.php) and the merlin-config.php file.
Refer to the example below:
require get_parent_theme_file_path( '/inc/merlin/merlin.php' );
require get_parent_theme_file_path( '/inc/merlin-config.php' );
Note: In the example above, the
/merlin/folder and themerlin-config.phpfile are both placed within the theme's/inc/folder directory location.
If you have TGMPA included within your theme, please ensure Merlin WP is included after it.
The merlin-config.php file tells Merlin WP where the class is installed and where your demo content is located. It also let's you modify any of the text strings throughout the wizard.
The important configuration settings:
directory— the location in your theme where the/merlin/folder is placeddemo_directory— the folder location of where your demo content is located
Other settings:
merlin_url— the admin url where Merlin WP will existchild_action_btn_url— the url for the child theme generator's "Learn more" linkhelp_mode— a wizard for your wizard, if you need help (beta)dev_mode— retain the "Theme Setup" menu item under the WordPress Admin > Appearance section for testing. Also enables JS/CSS minified files. This is on by default during the beta.branding— show Merlin WP's logo or not (beta)
Add your theme's demo content to the demo directory location specificed in the merlin-config.php file.
You'll want to add the following files:
content.xml— Exported demo content using the WordPress Exporterwidgets.wie— Exported widgets using Widget Importer & Exportercustomizer.dat— Exported Customizer settings using Customizer Export/Import
Inside the pacakge download exists a merlin-filters.php file, which includes examples of the different filters you may use to modify Merlin. A primary example would be to use to merlin_generate_child_functions_php filter to modify the contents of the generated child theme's functions.php file.
You may also need to filter your theme demo's home page, so that Merlin WP knows which pages to set as the home page once it's done runing.
To test, you'll want to create a new standard WordPress installation and add your theme build with Merlin WP integrated. You can then use the WP Reset plugin to reset and run through more tests.
Anyone is welcome to contribute to Merlin WP. Please read the guidelines for contributing to this repository.
There are various ways you can contribute:
- Raise an Issue on GitHub
- Send a Pull Request with your bug fixes and/or new features
- Provide feedback and suggestions on enhancements