Before anything else, before we even start to produce the first TuKod Theme Beta, we would like to give many thanks to Flynn and the Development Team at Bytes For All, for the wonderful Atahualpa Theme for WordPress. Without it there would be no TuKod Theme!
No Arguments
There is a misconception that when a software forks, that it is caused by misunderstandings, angry feelings, conflicts and arguments. However, this is NOT always the case. Sometimes a software forks simply because someone has a different idea of how the software could work in their situation or their set of circumstances. Such is the case of TuKod and Atahualpa.
The Need For Speed
In the Movie Top Gun, the main characters, “Maverick and Goose” have a scene in which is the line, “I feel the need, the need for speed!” Their comment is clearly that something needed to change, from their prospective or their point of view. Other characters in the same movie had a different prospective and a different point of view.
From our prospective, something needed to change in the theme, based on our needs.
Which Is Better?
Almost before you start a fork, people start asking the question, “Which is better?” Well, if you want to know if TuKod or Atahualpa is better, it would depend on a lot of things. Specifically, your websites specific needs.
If you have a single website, that has no problem with your graphics when you upgrade, then by all means you should take a look at Atahualpa, we did! TuKod is Atahualpa! Only modified for our purposes. That is the strength of open source code!
If, on the other hand, you have needs similar to ours, then TuKod just may be what you are looking for!
The TuKod Story
TuKod started out as Atahualpa. We needed a way to separate header graphics for different sites, in a Multi-Site, Multi-Network environment, running only one copy of the theme. We looked at all the available post on the forum, and then wrote our own patch.
Soon we also discovered problems with logos per site, and then favicons. We discovered our custom code and custom graphic were deletion upon upgrade at WordPress.Org and so we wrote a patch for that also. Each time a new version came out, sometimes just days apart, we would have to re-patch the new code, over and over again!
If you are having any of these problems, TuKod may be for you!
Finally Atahualpa had to have the PHP removed from the theme options, as a requirement of WordPress.Org. Mind you that PHP in the theme options was working just fine. It is not a fault of the PHP code that is the problem, or an obsolete or depreciated code. The problem was that it is easy to mess things up putting PHP here. It is actually an advanced technique that few theme used. Read that for advanced users only!
PHP code is allowed in Theme Options, just not in themes hosted for free at WordPress.Org. Paid themes like Theme Frames are free to continue using PHP in their Theme Options (I do not know if they do or not). This is because paid themes are not hosted on WordPress.Org. So like it or not, Atahualpa had to have its PHP options removed from the Theme Options.
Like before, we wrote a patch that would allow PHP to be used again on our 40 or so sites. However, it soon became apparent that it would be easier to just fork the Atahualpa Theme and maintain and modify the fork than to keep patching and patching and patching the latest release.
No Conflicts
TuKod has a purpose that is different (not better or worse) than Atahualpa. For example, it is NO Conflict that we need PHP in our TuKod Theme options!
If you read the TuKod Theme Main Page you can read the four main reasons TuKod is forking from Atahualpa. There is also listed the 12 main features TuKod hopes to include beyond what Atahualpa provides.
Does that mean TuKod is better than Atahualpa? No, TuKod is different, not better. TuKod meets our needs, other people’s needs are different. That is the beauty of Open Source! That is the reason I am writing this post to set the record straight, and to thank the people behind Atahualpa!
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We invite you to work with us on the TuKod Theme!
Update: 201201090727
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