This article is follow up to our original post about problems with ThemeForest review. Here we will present some examples of absurdities in theme rejections reasons. List will be updated as life goes, so if you have anything to add, our comment section is open.
Lets dive in!
Please do not modify/remove WordPress core functionality – screen shot
In screen shot I got from ThemeForest I could see such section of code:
remove_action('wp_head
At first glance I thought they are right, and wondered why I even tried to remove some WordPress default action. So I went for inspection but after seeing actual code – face palm:
remove_action('wp_head', '_admin_bar_bump_cb');
This code removes CSS that is added by WordPress admin bar(margins on top of body). When I have added above snippet I have read on codex.wordpress.org* that it is totally fine to remove this CSS with this code if only I will take care of styling for admin bar in my them.
So on each new theme review I get rejection for totally legit thing, and I have to reply with:
It is action that is adding styles to theme when there is admin bar. It is totally fine to remove it as long as theme author takes care of styling with admin bar. We do. If I am incorrect please explain me what exactly harm we are creating here.
* I am sure it was written in there, but I can not find source now. I have searched for over hour, so maybe it is removed, cause I remember I could find it with ease in the past.
flush_widget_cache() found in the theme files. Deprecated since version 4.4.
This one was gold. I always remove any deprecated functions calls, so I rushed with this one as well. It ended up being name of method from class. To avoid reviewer confusion in future I have renamed it, but also left salty reply in comment:
Are you blind? flush_widget_cache() It is our own method for registered widgets, so how can it be deprecated? Guess I will have to rename it cause of blind tests.
In reply I received:
(…)for future reference, please don’t name your functions the same as WP core functions, even if they have been deprecated.
It was METHOD name, not function! So I had to add another salty comment:
In this case it was method of class, so it is impossible to have any conflict with anything. I renamed it so your test would not blindly tell you same error again. You should fix this test, cause name of class method can’t be under your rules.
And such blind tests are common on ThemeForest review, so you can get hit by them even in such scenario as you can see.
Update on hold cause of icon
One time ThemeForest review team, has hold our update to theme for 2 days. It was not security issue, or out of date plugin, but message to users with info about where to look for help. The problem was it was written in light heart way, with some icons. Reviewer asked us to remove it – remove whole message. When we refused and asked why is this an issue, they hold us for 2 days, cause he needed to consult someone about it.
Seriously! We have been hold up with critical update cause of we winked to our users.
In the end, they let us in with advice to “make the wording much more professional” AKA “remove smileys and icons, you shouldn’t have personality”.
Ending words
ThemeForest review team is not flawless and everyone knows that. Above examples point out some strange situation, where was not enough thinking and maybe too much power on their side.
If you have any own strange stories connected with ThemeForest then we would love to hear them!
Air.