Mētis

Mētis is an official WordPress block theme currently under development.

Development environment

The recommended development environment uses wp-env so contributors can start the same WordPress configuration with a small set of commands.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later
• npm
• Docker Desktop or another running Docker-compatible daemon

If you use nvm, run nvm use to select the version in .nvmrc.

First-time setup

npm install
npm run env:setup

This starts WordPress, mounts and activates Metis, and installs and activates the Theme Check plugin.

• Site: http://localhost:8898
• Administration: http://localhost:8898/wp-admin/
• Username: admin
• Password: password

WordPress debugging, script debugging, and theme development mode are enabled. PHP notices, warnings, and errors are written to wp-content/debug.log rather than displayed in the browser.

Everyday commands

npm run env:start   # Start the existing environment.
npm run env:status  # Show its current status and ports.
npm run env:stop    # Stop it without deleting its data.
npm run env:clean   # Delete its WordPress and database data.

npm run env:clean is destructive. The next npm run env:setup creates a fresh site.

Existing WordPress installation

You can also place this repository at wp-content/themes/metis in an existing WordPress development installation and activate Mētis from Appearance → Themes.

Enable theme development mode and debugging in that installation while contributing:

define( 'WP_DEVELOPMENT_MODE', 'theme' );
define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );

Browser-only testing

WordPress Playground can install and run a ZIP of the theme entirely in the browser. A one-click repository Blueprint will be added after the public GitHub repository URL is available. Until then, open WordPress Playground, choose Add theme, upload a Mētis ZIP, and activate it.