Adding metadata and screenshots to a Theme

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You can add various pieces of metadata to a theme. Some are stored in the about.json file, and some are stored in the locale files.

about.json :link: file format info

name (string, required): The default name for the theme when installed. This can be changed by admins after the theme is installed.

component (boolean, default false): whether the theme should be treated as a component.

license_url (string, optional): a URL for a license file. A link to this will be displayed in the admin interface. Most themes use this to link to their license file on GitHub.

about_url (string, optional): a URL which contains more information about the theme. A link to this will be displayed in the admin interface. Most themes use this to link to their Meta topic.

authors (string, optional): A string to describe the author of the theme. Displayed in the admin interface.

theme_version (string, optional): An arbitrary string to describe the version of the theme. Displayed in the admin interface.

screenshots (array, optional): Up to two screenshot paths which will be used in various places of the UI to display screenshots of the theme. See below for more detail on restrictions.

minimum_discourse_version (string, optional): the earliest discourse version which this theme is compatible with. If it does not match, the theme will be auto-disabled. Should be in the format 2.4.0.beta1.

maximum_discourse_version (string, optional): the latest discourse version which this theme is compatible with. If it does not match, the theme will be auto-disabled. Should be in the format 2.4.0.beta1.

locale files (e.g. en.yml) :link: file format info

theme_metadata.description: A localised description of the theme. Displayed in the admin interface.

theme_metadata.settings.setting_name: A localised description of setting_name, displayed below the theme setting in the admin panel.

Screenshots

Themes and components can define a maximum of two screenshots in the screenshots key of about.json, which will look something like this:

"screenshots": ["screenshots/light.png", "screenshots/dark.png"]

There are several restrictions that must be considered:

  • The screenshots must be in a folder called screenshots in the theme’s GitHub repo
  • Screenshots cannot exceed 1 megabyte in size
  • Screenshots cannot be bigger than 3840x2160, which is 4K resolution. The recommended resolution is 2840x1860.
  • Screenshots can only be in jpeg, gif, or png format

We currently have a convention to provide both a light and a dark screenshot, but at this time the dark screenshot is not used.

This document is version controlled - suggest changes on github.

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