wp.org anima-lt build ships without the portfolio/gallery/testimonial block templates

[georgeolaru]

Symptom

The distributed anima-lt package (the wp.org build) ships without any of the custom post type block templates that pixelgrade/anima contains. On a live customer install running Anima LT 2.0.49, every one of these returns 404 while the same files exist in the source repo:

Template	in pixelgrade/anima	in installed anima-lt 2.0.49
templates/archive-portfolio.html	present (16 KB)	404
templates/single-portfolio.html	present (22 KB)	404
templates/taxonomy-portfolio_type.html	present	404
templates/taxonomy-portfolio_tag.html	present	404
templates/archive-gallery.html	present (16 KB)	404
templates/single-gallery.html	present	404
templates/archive-testimonial.html	present	404
templates/single-testimonial.html	present (22 KB)	404
templates/single-split-header.html	present (7 KB)	404

The product templates (archive-product.html, single-product.html, taxonomy-product_cat.html, taxonomy-product_tag.html) are present in the installed package, so the omission is inconsistent rather than a deliberate "no CPTs in the wp.org build" rule.

Evidence that this is the wp.org build

templates/front-page.html returns 200 on the installed theme, but that file exists only under wporg/templates/ in the repo — it is not in the source templates/ directory. So the installed package went through the wp.org overlay.

tasks/build-wporg.js:137-153 documents the mechanism:

// Preserve the premium Nova Blocks templates in a non-registered location before
// the wporg/ overlay replaces templates/ and parts/ with plugin-free defaults.
// WordPress auto-registers only files under templates/ and parts/.
const novablocksTemplateVariantFiles = [
    'templates/page.html',
    'templates/single.html',
    'templates/home.html',
    'templates/index.html',
    'templates/archive.html',
    'templates/search.html',
    ...
]

wporg/templates/ contains only: 404.html, archive.html, front-page.html, home.html, index.html, page.html, search.html, single.html. The overlay replaces the whole templates/ directory, so every CPT template in the source is dropped.

Impact

A site that imports an LT starter design with projects has no parent-theme template to render the project archive or a single project. The customer install this was found on only renders correctly because Create Block Theme baked archive-portfolio.html and single-portfolio.html into the generated anima-lt-child — remove or regenerate the child theme and the project pages lose their templates.

Repro

1. Install the distributed anima-lt 2.0.49 package.
2. Request wp-content/themes/anima-lt/templates/archive-portfolio.html — 404.
3. Request wp-content/themes/anima-lt/templates/front-page.html — 200 (wp.org-overlay-only file, confirming the build variant).
4. Compare against pixelgrade/anima 2.0.49 templates/, which contains all nine files above.

Suggested fix

Have the wp.org overlay replace only the templates it actually needs to strip of Nova Blocks markup, rather than swapping the entire templates/ and parts/ directories — or add plugin-free variants of the CPT templates to wporg/templates/.

HelpScout: https://secure.helpscout.net/conversation/3433723183

[georgeolaru]

Fixed in 0e1fbf2 (milestone 2.0.50).

Root cause

The analysis here is right about the symptom. One refinement: the overlay doesn't wipe templates/. .zipignore-wporg strips these 11 templates on purpose, because they are full of Nova Blocks markup and serve plugin-registered post types (portfolio, gallery and testimonial come from Pixelgrade Care), and the wp.org package must stay plugin-free. That's also why the WooCommerce templates survive (see #599).

The gap: the core templates (page, single, archive…) have a Nova variant in wporg-template-variants/novablocks/ that the wp.org loader swaps in when Nova Blocks is active. These 11 were never added there, and the loader could only swap templates that exist, not add missing ones. So on Anima LT with Nova and Care, projects silently fell back to the generic archive/single.

Fix

• Build (tasks/build-wporg.js): copy the 11 stripped templates into wporg-template-variants/novablocks/templates/. That folder isn't auto-registered; templates/ stays plugin-free and unchanged.
• Loader (wporg/inc/wporg-template-variants.php): when Nova Blocks is active, add each template back if its post type or taxonomy is registered (split-header always).
  • They're added through get_block_templates (template hierarchy, Site Editor lists) and get_block_file_template (single fetches).
  • Each is built like a theme file: core's builder, plus the theme.json custom-template title and post types.
  • A user-customised copy always wins. Without Nova Blocks nothing changes.
• Package hygiene: the split-header template carried demo images from trial.pixelgrade.com. The build's image scrub only handled self-closing blocks and Unsplash; it now also covers blocks with inner content and that host. The full wp.org zip scan (unsplash / cloud / trial / pxgcdn / cdnjs / source maps) is clean.

Verification

Fresh Anima LT smoke site built from this commit's package, with a portfolio post type and portfolio_type taxonomy registered (a stand-in for Care's CPT module), a project, and a term. The resolved template was read from $_wp_current_template_id on real requests.

URL	Nova Blocks active	Nova Blocks inactive
/portfolio/river-house/	single-portfolio (was single in 2.0.49)	single (plugin-free, as before)
/portfolio/	archive-portfolio	archive
/portfolio_type/architecture/	taxonomy-portfolio_type	archive
/	front-page	front-page
Gallery templates (no gallery CPT)	not added	not added

The Site Editor lists archive-portfolio, single-portfolio, taxonomy-portfolio_type and Single Post (Split Header) as Anima LT theme templates. Before, none.

Package contents: templates/ is unchanged (13 files, including the WooCommerce ones); wporg-template-variants/novablocks/templates/ goes from 6 to 17 files.

Tests

• test/wporg-template-variant-additions.php (standalone): nothing added without Nova; only templates whose post type or taxonomy exists; slug__in and post_type queries; a customised copy wins; single fetches resolve; the theme.json title and post types are kept; the filter is registered.
• test/wporg-stripped-templates-coverage.test.js: every template .zipignore-wporg strips is copied as a variant and known to the loader (and vice versa), and the demo-image hosts are scrubbed. Before the fix, 12 cases failed.
• The existing variant contracts still pass. Full node suite: 256/256.

For the release: re-run Theme Check / the wp.org upload scanner on the 2.0.50 LT zip, since it now carries 11 more variant files.