It’s been a while since we’ve had a major release. Between versions 3.0 and 4.0, I’ve treated Hybrid Core as a bit of a “living” framework where most of us just used the latest development code to build themes. But, at some point, it started becoming time for an official release.
Many of the features in the official 4.0 release might not feel new to those of you who’ve been working with the bleeding edge. For those of you who’ve been on the 3.0 branch, you should be in for a treat.
The new, somewhat new, and changes to the old
Hybrid Core 4.0 carries a ton minor changes. Primarily, there’s quite a number of utility functions spread throughout the framework, which further helps with theme development. I encourage all developers to dig in and find all the new and neat functions.
I also fixed numerous bugs, most of which were handled in a 3.1 release that never happened. So, they all got pushed into the official 4.0 release.
Most of all, the framework has been brought up to date with all the latest and greatest changes in core WordPress.
Fonts API:
One of my favorite features is the new fonts system. It was an idea that I extended from Jose Castaneda for working with Google Fonts.
The new system allows theme authors to register, enqueue, etc. fonts just like core WP allows with scripts and styles. Out of the box, it works with both the Google Fonts API and fonts bundled with the theme.
Object Template API:
Hybrid Core has long been at the forefront of custom post templates. We had them for 7 years before they were introduced in WordPress. This time around, I’ve taken this a step further and built a new custom template system that works with posts, terms, and users. There’s not yet an admin UI for terms and users, but the underlying functionality is there.
This is a feature that we’ll iterate on and will allow theme authors to build some awesome stuff.
Embed Template Parts:
I’ve been sneaking this into my themes for a while. It’s long past due being an official part of Hybrid Core. The new embed template system will work like our current content template parts. Essentially, theme authors can create custom templates for embeds based on the post type or post format.
This opens up cool things like being able to share audio/video embeds from your own site on others’ sites plus lots of other cool things.
Attributes System Overhaul:
In 3.0.0, I introduced a new attributes system, which allowed theme authors to have customizable and filterable HTML attributes for any element. Sort of like body_class()
and post_class()
on steroids. I even built in Schema.org support.
However, that forced theme authors into using my preferred system. This version completely overhauls the system, providing just the foundation. Theme authors now have complete freedom over attributes.
Registry API:
Hybrid Core now has its own registry class for storing collections of data for single page loads. Mostly, this is used internally to keep from having globals. But, it’s available to use for theme authors who have the need to store collections of key/value pairs.
Taxonomy Term Layouts:
While the functionality has always been built in, we’ve never had the admin UI. The theme layouts feature now has an admin UI on the add new and edit term screens in the admin. You can utilize this to give your users even more control over their site’s layouts.
Want “Category X” to be one column? No problem. Want “Tag Y” to be two columns with the sidebar on the left? Yeah, you can do that too.
Removed Post Styles:
The Post Styles feature is now officially removed from the framework. Very few people used it, so it was just bloat that we didn’t need.
If you did use the feature and still need it, get in touch with me. I’d be happy to pass along the code.
Upgrade to 4.0.0
Please take a moment to read through the change log and readme before upgrading. There are a number of incompatible changes from 3.x to 4.0.
Outside of that, I hope you enjoy this release. It’s been loads of fun working on it.
You can grab a copy from:
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