Gene Robinson, lead developer of the Thematic WordPress theme, has announced that the project will no longer be developed. Thematic was last updated in 2013 and is actively installed on more than 4K sites. Users are advised to migrate to a different theme as updates will no longer be released. As WordPress core evolves, sites using Thematic may develop incompatibilities.
Continuing The Legacy with a Different Name
Although development on Thematic is discontinuing, Robinson has forked the project and renamed it to Deciduous. The project picks up where Thematic leaves off. Those interested in continuing development can follow it on GitHub where pull requests are welcomed. Robinson is also seeking links to other projects that are derivative of Thematic.
Where to Get Support for Thematic
Users who need support are advised to post on the WordPress.org support forums for the Thematic theme, “The support forums on the Thematic website are shutting down due to the lack of community involvement, moderation, and developer feedback,” Robinson said. “Hopefully the greater WordPress support community will be able to help you find a resolution.”
A Look Back
The years 2008-2009 is an interesting time frame in WordPress’ history. A number of commercial theme and plugin companies, WordPress-centric sites, and projects were launched. Among these was the Thematic theme by Ian Stewart, theme Wrangler for Automattic. Thematic was more than just a theme, it was an opportunity for Stewart to learn how WordPress’ theme system works.
He regularly shared his knowledge with the community through ThemeShaper.com, a site now owned by Automattic that features contributions from other members of the theme team. It was the wild west of theme development in 2008 and any person who regularly shared theme development techniques became an influential member of the community.
Two years after launching Thematic, Stewart joined Automattic as a theme wrangler.
What can I say besides awesome, awesome, awesome? The enormous opportunity for learning and improvement; all the super-talented, friendly people; the chance to work on so many really, really cool projects—it’s almost unbelievable. This is a dream job for me.
The hiring allowed him to make available all of his commercial child themes built on the Thematic framework available free of charge to the community.
Did You Learn From Thematic?
It’s bittersweet and slightly nostalgic to see the theme come to an end. When I launched the Tavern in 2009, I regularly linked to tutorials and articles published by Stewart. I’m almost certain Thematic and its creator helped out a number of budding theme developers between 2008-2011. Let us know in the comments if you used Thematic for any projects or what you learned from its code.
This is what worries me about my career, which is modifying themes for clients. Hundreds of sites over the past 6 years and what the heck happens when the developers stop supporting them? Do I tell my client “sorry, but this is your problem?” They would have no idea how to install another theme and possibly reformat their content.