The Editr WordPress Theme is by far one of the most interesting themes I’ve worked on. If you’re familiar with TNW, then you’d probably know where the inspirations are coming from. One of key features of the theme, code-wise, is the implementation of Backbone.js + Underscore.js which just recently came pre-packaged with WordPress v3.5.
Editr is not a web app so one may argue about the use of BB+_.js. However, there is actually nothing written in stone about the usage of BB on simple sites like the Editr. When it comes to the question of “when to use Backbone”, one of the most memorable quote I’ve read is this:
“If you must ask, then you should probably use it”
Simply put, Backbone is about as simplest as you can get to have a well structured Javascript codes. With its inclusion on WP and its fairly small size, there’s really no excuse not to use it, unless of course – your codes are already very well structured – but we all know how frustratingly time-consuming to do that!
The inclusion of BB+_.js on Editr was an attempt to make use of these libraries to see how they play with the overall WP templating system – I think it turned out quite nicely. Everything was running very smoothly and at blazing fast speed. In the future, I’m considering on creating a web-app WP theme – probably a directory listing like AirBnb or a small job site. We’ll see.
On Editr, I was stringent on the use of WP’s dynamic templating system. For example, all you see on the index.php file is this:
The inspirations for this type of structure came from the BBPress which is very easy to customize thanks to its intuitive & well organized templates structure. On Editr, the templates are even more organized, separated into their own directory with logical nomenclature system. Those familiar with MVC framework will quickly find the similarities. Customizing the theme using a child should be a walk in the park.
The admin side of the theme are wrapped nicely into their own classes, making them easy to integrate and programmatically called. No Theme Customizer though, because I hate it.
The only downside of the theme is the price – $40 is probably a bit expensive, considering that it is a fairly minimalistic theme and doesn’t really run on thousands of plugins like the most other “multipurpose” theme. If at all, this is a “single purpose” theme and a $35 price point should be more well-fitting.
Cheers