Trac 64439: Add theme download capability to Theme Editor

[noruzzamans]

Description

This Pull Request introduces the ability to download the currently selected theme as a ZIP file directly from the Appearance > Theme File Editor screen. This feature allows users to easily create a backup or copy of the theme they are editing without needing FTP or file manager access.

Ticket

https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64439

Acknowledgements

Props to @solankisoftware for the initial patch.
Thanks for the contribution! I noticed the file path in the original patch was slightly incorrect for the development environment (it was missing src/), so I have corrected the path to ensure it applies cleanly to the wordpress-develop repository.

Changes

• Added a "Download Theme" button below the theme editor form in [src/wp-admin/theme-editor.php]
• Implemented a secure handler for the download_theme action.
• Added logic to generate a ZIP archive of the theme using ZipArchive (with a fallback to PclZip for compatibility).
• Ensures proper permission checks (edit_themes) and nonce verification before processing the download.

Testing Instructions

1. Navigate to Appearance > Theme File Editor.
2. Select any theme from the dropdown menu (if multiple themes are installed).
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the editor area.
4. Click the newly added Download Theme button.
5. Verify that a .zip file containing the full theme directory is downloaded successfully.
6. Extract the ZIP file and confirm that all theme files are present and strictly correspond to the selected theme.

[github-actions]

Hi @noruzzamans! 👋

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[github-actions]

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Core Committers: Use this line as a base for the props when committing in SVN:

Props noruzzaman, westonruter.

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[github-actions]

Test using WordPress Playground

The changes in this pull request can previewed and tested using a WordPress Playground instance.

WordPress Playground is an experimental project that creates a full WordPress instance entirely within the browser.

Some things to be aware of

• The Plugin and Theme Directories cannot be accessed within Playground.
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• A fresh instance is created each time the link below is clicked.
• Every time this pull request is updated, a new ZIP file containing all changes is created. If changes are not reflected in the Playground instance,
  it's possible that the most recent build failed, or has not completed. Check the list of workflow runs to be sure.

For more details about these limitations and more, check out the Limitations page in the WordPress Playground documentation.

Test this pull request with WordPress Playground.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This pull request introduces a theme download feature to the WordPress Theme File Editor, allowing users to download the currently selected theme as a ZIP archive. The implementation provides both a UI button and a secure backend handler.

Changes:

• Added a "Download Theme" button below the theme editor form
• Implemented secure backend logic to create ZIP archives using ZipArchive (with PclZip fallback)
• Added minimal styling for the download form

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 9 comments.

File	Description
src/wp-admin/theme-editor.php	Added download handler with permission checks, nonce verification, and ZIP generation logic; added download form UI
src/wp-admin/css/common.css	Added minimal styling for the download theme form

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[noruzzamans]

@westonruter Thanks for the review. I have addressed the feedback:

1. Updated the file iteration logic to use RecursiveIteratorIterator::LEAVES_ONLY and FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS to correctly skip dot directories.
2. Added sanitize_file_name() to the ZIP filename in the Content-Disposition header.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 7 comments.

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[noruzzamans]

@westonruter I have resolved the issues. Could you please review and let me know if need any further changes. Thanks