When I first started developing my theme WP-Forge, I decided that I was going to follow the guidelines set forth by the TRT. I also used the wptest.io like Dave Chu mentioned, which is, in my opinion, better than the standard theme test data.

However, when I finished developing the theme I did not submit it to the TRT. I was afraid to. I was afraid that she wasn't good enough and that I didn't do things properly. I feared that I would have to go back and do it all over again. So instead, I offered it for download on my site as well as Github.

But as time went on, people were asking me if i was going to submit it to the TRT. Eventually I decided that I would and I did. It took about three months to get my first initial review and to my surprise, the changes that were needed were minor and mostly dealt with the escaping of functions (I believe thats what its called, correct me if I'm wrong). I was actually thanked in an email for doing things "the right way" by a member of the TRT, which made me feel great.

Now I have a theme that is coded to standards and used by a lot of people and I get told all the time its the best theme they have ever used.

If developers would just try and do things right the first time and maybe ask questions on the TRT Slack channel before they submit, they may find that the changes they may have to make are miniscule. This could reduce the time it takes reviewers to cover a theme.

But I do like the automated idea. This could speed things up considerably and allow the TRT to work with the developers. Educated developers would mean better built themes.