WP Theme Manager restricts theme modification

  • Kathy_P

    (@kathy_p)


    20 years ago

    I have used the WP Theme Manager Plugin to upload over a dozen themes from the WordPress 1.5 Theme contest. It worked like a dream. I decided to use Mike Cohen’s Random Image theme for my blog–and that’s when I discovered the plugin’s major flaw. It uploads all the files as user “nobody.” That means only “nobody” can do anything to or with them. WordPress is also “nobody,” so you can edit any of the components of a theme using WordPress’s theme editor. But if you want to change the image that came with a theme that you uploaded with the WP Theme Manager plugin–you’re stuck. You can’t ftp a new image into a folder created by the plugin, you can’t overwrite an image that’s already there, you can’t delete an image that’s already there, and you can’t change the permissions on any of the files in that theme–all because they were created by user “nobody.” I’ve been told that one can change the ownership of files if one has shell access, but my webhost doesn’t provide it. I could enter a help ticket to tech support and ask them to change ownership on all those files in all those themes, and I’d find that rather embarassing. For now, I copied all the modified parts of the theme using Windows copy-and-paste, and saved the theme to my hard drive. Then using the Theme Manager plugin, I deleted the theme I wanted to use. Then using my own ftp software I uploaded the theme, so that I now have ownership of it.

    Unless I discover a better way to change the file ownership than whining to tech support, I must regretfully give up on the Theme Manager plugin. I am starting this thread mostly to make other people aware of the situation.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    If you don’t mind me posting my opinion here:

    WP Plugin Manager serves a purpose. There many plugins which tend to be difficult to install. They require putting files in more than one directory and sometimes adding code to certain files. WP Plugin Manager simplifies this by providing one-click installs for many of these plugins.

    WP Theme Manager, on the other hand, serves little to no purpose. Most themes can be installed by uploading the theme’s folder to the /themes/ directory and then activating it via the Presentation menu. There is no way and no reason to make that any easier.

    jonimueller

    (@jonimueller)

    Thanks for clearing that up, MM, because while I was reading the OP thread, I read “WP Theme Manager” and thought he meant the Presentation Tab in the WP Admin console and remember thinking I never have any problem with it and I’ve greedily uploaded quite a few themes (via FTP of course) and once you check to be sure they are writeable, you’re good to go.

    I find FTP to be much faster anyway. But that’s just me.

    jonimueller

    (@jonimueller)

    @kathy, if I may so gratuitously toot my own horn here, I took a peek at your site and you may enjoy my WP theme, Garden Log. View it at my WP testbed site here:

    https://testbeds.webjones.org/wp15

    Joni ??

    Thread Starter Kathy_P

    (@kathy_p)

    @macmanx, I will agree with you on little purpose. I am vulnerable to repetitive stress injuries in my hand and arm, so anything that saves me keystrokes is a good thing. The theme manager plugin also makes it possible to add themes when at a public computer, with no access to ftp. And it enables you to delete themes from within WordPress, which is also a good thing, otherwise it would be a pain in the neck to get them out of there. But if I had known what I know now, about the themes getting uploaded as nobody’s, I wouldn’t have used the theme manager plugin, as it ultimately cost me more keystrokes than it saved.
    @joni, after I had already started working with the Random Image theme, I went back to the contest site and saw several of your themes that I liked. Eventually I hope to figure out how to use the Theme Switcher plugin and let my readers pick!

    Actually, I disagree. I think the WP Theme Manager is pretty useful. I manage several different WP blogs for other people, and I dont want to give all of them ftp access. They can upload themes through the web very easily.

    Has anyone else worked with this plugin at all? I’d like to use it as well, so my students could load themes into their blogs without needing ftp access. But I just used it with a theme that wasn’t quite complete–the theme doesn’t show up in any of the web interfaces, but the files are on my server, and (so far) undelete-able. Would anyone have any idea if the ‘nobody’ problem could be written out of the plugin somehow, to prevent this from happening?

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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