Guidance on Wordpress Requirements & Genesis Framework

Hi there,

I’m building a genesis-child template that I might be willing to sell at a later point. I saw that Genesis is allowed in theory from various threads here, so that’s a good thing. As any author I went through the Envato WordPress requirements, and it makes a balanced differntiation between features that are “plugin”-territory and features that are “theme-territory”.

Q̶1̶:̶ ̶ ̶N̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶I̶’̶m̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶m̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶x̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶"̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶i̶c̶o̶n̶s̶"̶.̶ ̶S̶o̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶i̶c̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶a̶m̶e̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶ ̶(̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶m̶o̶d̶i̶f̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶a̶m̶e̶w̶o̶r̶k̶)̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶A̶R̶E̶ ̶p̶l̶u̶g̶i̶n̶-̶t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶t̶o̶r̶y̶.̶ ̶I̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶j̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶?̶

Q̶2̶:̶ ̶G̶e̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶"̶o̶n̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶i̶n̶g̶"̶ ̶w̶i̶z̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶t̶a̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶p̶l̶u̶g̶i̶n̶s̶,̶ ̶d̶e̶m̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶T̶G̶M̶P̶A̶.̶ ̶A̶m̶ ̶I̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶u̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶e̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶?̶

Q3:
Am I allowed to use Merlin-WP for theme onboarding, which uses TGMPA under the hood to install plugins? The section in the documentation says: “Only TGMPA-based installers are now allowed”, but when is something TGMAPA based?

Q̶4̶:̶ ̶A̶l̶s̶o̶,̶ ̶E̶n̶v̶a̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶u̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶3̶r̶d̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶y̶ ̶(̶e̶m̶b̶e̶d̶d̶e̶d̶)̶ ̶p̶l̶u̶g̶i̶n̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶d̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶c̶h̶n̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶g̶u̶i̶d̶e̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶I̶s̶ ̶"̶f̶r̶a̶m̶e̶w̶o̶r̶k̶"̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶x̶e̶m̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶u̶l̶e̶?̶ ̶A̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶g̶n̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶r̶a̶m̶e̶w̶o̶r̶k̶?̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶j̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶n̶v̶a̶t̶o̶-̶b̶a̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶g̶u̶i̶d̶e̶l̶i̶n̶e̶s̶.̶

Q5:
Does an audit report (e.g. by Travis Smith or someone else capable) add any weight to a submission? I want to make absolutely sure that I’ve ticked every functional and technical box I can, for what it is worth.

Q6:
I’m planning on putting updates behind a keygate. In order to do this, the Envato item needs to be already approved available for order it seems? Chicken - egg. How can I test whether the keygate works without having the item on envato? Can I release it without keygate updates, and add it at a later stage?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts

Most of this discussion seems to be for naught. Genesis themes are not allowed on the themeforest store currently as per the Envato support ticket I sent in. That’s sad, but it is what it is. My genesis-specific questions are then no longer relevant.I do still seek answers to the rest of my questions :slight_smile: