Widget Work - Part II Consistent Elements

I started working on widgets the other day. A goal for XenWord 3.3 is for the widgets to be consistent in six key areas:

• Use ob_start()
• PHP 5.3 hook
• $fetchOptions and $conditions
• Views
• return $instance or 'no form'
• proper class naming (match file name and class name)

The use of $fetchOptions and $conditions is the most significant change to the code. The first few lines of the Thread.php model shows which elements can be placed in the $fetchOptions and which elements can be placed in the $conditions.

$fetchOptions: join, order, orderDirection, and limit are four key elements.
$conditions: discussion_state, discussion_type, prefix_id, sticky, and deleted are key.

I made it only through two widgets tonight. It was slow going as I was working through the WP_Widget::form() and trying to be consistent on the widgets' backend.