This is a loose list of things that need to be done to update minerva to v2, in no particular order.

- Consider removing the minerva submodule and working from the actual distribution instead.
- Update page templates to use Minerva PHP functions where possible
- Update blocks to use Minerva PHP functions in the render callback
- Update CSS pipeline for Minerva 2 styles
- Update JS pipeline for Minerva 2 scripts
- Remove all references to assetfiles.ua.edu and package assets with the theme instead, or use the new SVG components where possible
- Comb through the Theme's CSS to confirm there's no conflicts or outdated workarounds
- Create a compatibility.css file that maps old classes and variables to new ones where there would otherwise be a breaking change
- Load the compatibility file by default but provide a toggle for it in the customizer (in a future update we'll set this to be disabled by default and completely remove it further out)
- Add alert to the admin dashboard when compatibility mode is enabled directing the user to the migration guide
- Write a migration guide documenting any action an editor needs to take to prevent breaking changes once compatibility mode is disabled or removed
- Exploration for what it would take to make blocks in the editor look more like the front end for a later editor improvement project

Anything related to architecture / refactors / project structure

core

An issue related to developer experience or operations

editor

The primary objective of this update is to upgrade Minerva to v2

Theme 3.8.0

Update to Minerva 2.0

https://make.wordpress.org/core/2026/05/14/wordpress-7-0-field-guide/

Go through the changes made in WordPress core and experiment with the new version in a development environment.

- Given your knowledge of the theme, are there any changes that conflict with the theme's functionality?
- Consider the guardrails we put in place to prevent unacceptable content. Does this version give controls that may be abused to break or bypass the brand guidelines or design system?
- Are there any features of the new WordPress version that doesn't work as expected due to something in the theme?
- Did the new version introduce any kind of functionality for which we had build a custom solution?

research

priority

Research changes in WordPress 7.0

https://wordpress.org/documentation/wordpress-version/version-6-9/

Research changes in WP 6.9

This issue is to track progress on a code cleanup / organization initiative. The goal is to bring code organization in line with our other projects.

Code should be modular and grouped by feature. We can also look into using PHP namespaces and clean up any classes / functions. Features with a lot of code should be moved to their own file.

Linting and tests should be added where applicable, and functions / classes should be wrapped in a function exists if statement to avoid duplicate definitions.

Other changes should be considered based on research of best practices, and comments should be added for everything explaining what it does / how it works if applicable / why its there if its not immediately obvious.

All block controls should be updated to remove deprecated components, and any console warnings / errors should be eliminated.

Lastly, any unused code should be removed.

Refactor

Inspired by https://github.com/UA-Stratcom/operations/issues/514

I think it would be nice if we could figure out a relatively easy way to test the theme against the WordPress and PHP versions we cite as minimum requirements, and provide information about what version of WordPress it has been tested to support.

Maybe we can adjust the dev environment created in docker to use a different version of WP and PHP? If so, maybe we could have presets or options to launch the dev env in "edge" mode which uses the latest PHP and WordPress versions or in "compatibility" mode which uses the versions we specify.

We can create and import a standardized set of content that has all blocks / features to get things up and running easier.

We should also update style.css to include the items:

```css
/*
Theme URI: https://web.ua.edu/theme/
Tested up to: 6.6
*/
```

According to WordPress guidelines, themes are required to support the last 3 versions of WordPress (not including patches), so that's some useful information I learned today.

CI / CD

Improve testing and compatibility practices

Many times an accessibility audit will flag the text on a cover block as insufficient contrast. I initially wanted to write it off as a known false positive but after giving it some thought, it might be nice to add a default background on a layer behind the image.

This would get rid of the false positives, but more importantly it would address an edge case where the text may genuinely have insufficient contrast if the image fails to load for whatever reason.

The default background should use the background CSS variable so that contrast requirements are guaranteed.

An issue related to an accessibility concern

accessibility

Theme 3.7.3

Cover block has no fallback background

## Background

Sometimes a design calls for part of a text element to be rendered differently, such as a few words inside a heading. The outline text effect on https://www.ua.edu/ for example.

<img width="595" height="138" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/33e3b527-4f26-4d0e-ade7-c4dc7004ccfd" />

## Description

We need some way to apply a class name to part of a block, instead of to the entire block like is possible through the block settings sidebar.

## Workarounds

The only current workaround is to use an HTML block and add a `<span>` around the part of text you want styled with the desired class name. This is particularly messy and makes editing the page more difficult since those elements are harder to parse when skimming to page

## Mockups / Proposed solution

Add a shortcode that wraps content in a span with a specified class name.

`[class name="class-name"]Content to be wrapped[/class]`


enhancement

Add shortcode to add class name to substring

We plan to add this plugin to the list of plugins supported natively by Theme 3:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ics-calendar/

It is likely that the plugin may require adjustments to the theme, such as those addressing CSS conflicts.

- [ ] Test all features of ICS Calendar Pro
- [ ] Make note of all instances of bad styling or unexpected behavior caused by the theme itself
- [ ] Develop patches for each issue, just like we did for Gravity Forms

@kylefondren will provide the pro license when the purchase is approved and finalized

If all functionality works without issue, comment here that everything has been tested and close out the issue.

feature

Add support for ICS Calendar plugin

## Description

There are 2 issues with page metadata on the directory template pages:

1. The title for the directory index says "Directory Archive" when it should simply be "Directory", and the pages for a tag or category say "TAG Archives"
2. The thumbnail for rich link embeds will pull from (I think the first) image on the page, which is usually someone's portrait. The image should be omitted or set to a safe default.

There may be other issues with the metadata, so we should review all fields with a tool like https://metatags.io/

## Workarounds

There are no workarounds for this issue, other than making a child theme to override the meta tags


invalid

Review metadata for directory page templates

## Background

The theme users rarely, if ever, use any other resolution option besides 'full' resolution.  It would improve workflow if the default value would be set to full. 

## Description

The theme users rarely, if ever, use any other resolution option besides 'full' resolution.  It would improve workflow if the default value would be set to full. 

Roadmap

Milestones

Theme 3.8.0

Theme 3.7.3