[ADR-0017] Move blocks into the theme

Move all code to the theme and retire the plugin.

• Status: accepted

• Deciders: Development Team

Technical Story: Unify the application code into one repository.

Context and Problem Statement

After minimizing our set of repositories (as part of ADR-0004), we currently have two repositories. One for the theme and one for the blocks.

There are still things that interconnected between the two repositories that increase complexity. Some examples:

• The theme is still being used as a submodule in the plugin.

• Test instances sometimes get broken because of a leftover branch from the other repo not involved in the current PR.

• We do tag both repositories on release, even though they don’t both have new changes.

Considered Options

• Move blocks into the theme and retire the plugin completely.

• Keep maintaining the blocks into its own repository as a plugin.

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: [option 1] move all code to the theme and retire the plugin.

Pros and Cons of the Options

[option 1]

• Good, because of decreased complexity on code changes that touch both repos (interconnected pull requests)

• Good, because it would simplify test instances deployments and testing.

• Good, because it would simplify the code review process if everything is one repository.

• Good, because it would reduce duplication of code (eg. CI, webpack, linters).

• Good, because it would simplify tests that touch functionality on both sides.

• Bad, because it seems to be the WP way having blocks as a plugin.

[option 2]

• Good, some NROs may not need the blocks. (mitigation: add a feature flag for blocks)

• Bad, because plugin css code depends on theme (submodule complexity).

• Bad, because translations are split in two.

Links

• [ADR-0004] Switch to Monorepo

• Jira Epic