• Synchronized French and Swedish translations
• Decreased vertical space below the byline on each post
• Switch back to Verdana font on Windows (from Calibri)

Download Simplish version 2.2.1 here (.zip, sha1:ac7b527fce64c8f40c2556fef9caa18098b2ceb0), or see it soon in the WordPress themes directory.

On a display, there is only a single visible change in this release, but the numerous changes to the theme’s CSS will affect customizers or child-themers and therefore prompt a minor version bump over the venerable 2.1[.x] series. Print styles, on the other hand, have changed both in code and in visual presentation.

In honor of translators’ contributions since version 2.1.17, the Simplish Demo is rotating through the supported localizations.

Highlighted Changes

• Add fr_FR localization for French, thanks to ttynixer.
• Add pt_PT localization for Portuguese, thanks to ttynixer.
• Optimize CSS according to Google Page Speed analysis.
• Rewrite CSS for simplicity and efficiency. Reduce over-specification.
• Trim dead selectors/rules. Merge some sharable selectors/rules.
• Add new archives-list CSS class for common multiple-post listing styles.
• Add underline on hover to author name in post byline.
• More precisely define font, color, layout rules for printed output.

For a very detailed record of the changes in this release, see the developer changelog.

Download Simplish version 2.2 here (.zip, sha1:876b61a43a5da2bf98dd6392d65f972008956495), or see it soon in the WordPress themes directory.

• Add sv_SE localization files for Swedish. Thanks Clement Durand.
• Update el localization files for Greek. Thanks Demetris at op111.net.
• Switch most page-visible minus literals to – entities. Thanks Demetris at op111. (For compatibility, the minus convention is maintained in <title> elements.)

Download Simplish version 2.1.8 here, or see it soon in the WordPress themes directory.

1. git [clone || pull] git://labs.utopian.net/simplish
2. simplish-2.1.8RC.tgz
3. simplish-2.1.8RC.zip
4. simplish.pot.zip (Just the .pot gettext template file.)

For inclusion in Simplish 2.1.8, send a git patch or the updated .po file for your language/region to josh@utopian.net, or put a link to your compressed .po file in the comments on this post.

Many thanks to the folks doing localizations of the theme!

The latest work on Simplish tried to scratch out the last un-gettext’d strings in the theme and finally generate a localization template (.pot file). The internationalization infrastructure is now in place, and Simplish is ready for translation into your language.

2.1.7 ships with a Greek (el) localization provided by Demetris from op111.net. To activate a translated version of the theme, follow these instructions to set your WPLANG and make WordPress run in your locale. If a .mo file for the locale exists in the simplish/languages subdirectory (true only for el right now), the theme will load it.

Download

Download Simplish version 2.1.7 here, or see it soon in the WordPress themes directory.

Adding your own language to Simplish

To translate Simplish into your language, use the included languages/simplish.pot template to generate a .po file with the letter-encoding for your locale (e.g., fr_FR for the “French, France” locale). Then provide a translation for each string, saving the resulting .po and .mo files in the theme's languages subdirectory.

You can place a pointer to your translated .po file in the comments for inclusion in future versions of Simplish, or send them or a pointer via email. Given demand, we'll add features to the git repo available at git://labs.utopian.net/simplish to make for easier collaboration, but for now, git-format patches to add your translation will certainly be warmly received.

Farewell, valid Galleries

Unlike earlier versions, 2.1.7 uses the built-in WordPress gallery shortcode function instead of a custom version. This enables the settings for number of columns and other layout options that previously didn't work with the custom gallery implementation. Unfortunately, unlike the former sp_vallery() function in Simplish, the core WordPress gallery does not emit valid XHTML.

We expect WordPress's gallery shortcode will be changed to create valid XHTML at some point. Until then, any page/post including an image gallery will be invalid markup, unless a plugin or other workaround is used. The Cleaner Gallery plugin by Justin Tadlock has worked well for us.

Changes in version 2.1.7

• Move most view-bottom prev/next navigation out to an included template, prevnextnav.php.
• Delete the sp_vallery() function & don't filter WP core's gallery shortcode.
• Wrap user-visible strings with gettext _e() and __() macros.
• Change post byline to use a dash (-) to avoid issue with context of "at" in multiple languages, in absence of support in themes for gettext "contexts".
• Stop using CSS text-transform: uppercase in archive headings to avoid issue with accented characters in uppercase in many non-English languages.
• Add languages/ subdirectory and code to get locale files from there.
• Generate gettext .pot translatable strings template.
• Add el.^(po mo) localization files for Greek locale. Thanks Demetris at op111.net.