=== ACL Trace ===

Contributors: Ash Creative Labs
Requires at least: 6.9
Tested up to: 7.0
Requires PHP: 8.0
Stable tag: 3.0.0
License: GPL-2.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Text Domain: acl-trace

== Description ==

ACL Trace is a next-generation terminal editorial block theme with a dark Trace Magenta default, responsive typography, native templates, native Navigation, a semantic component system, and eight production patterns.

The theme uses a theme.json v3 design system and remains editable in the Site Editor. It has no build step, no theme JavaScript, and no remote font dependency.

No companion plugin is required. ACL Site Style Kit can override palettes and typography. ACL Site Essentials can provide optional metadata, schema, breadcrumbs, canonical/robots controls, discovery controls, and frontend emoji settings. ACL Featured Image Plus can provide enhanced featured-image presentation.

== Features ==

* Native block-theme templates and editable template parts.
* Dark Trace Magenta semantic palette and responsive typography.
* Native Navigation with a portable Page List fallback.
* Trace Card, button, form, Query Loop, comment, table, quote, code, Details, and media presentation.
* Eight included patterns: Signal Hero, Signal CTA, Feature Grid, Two Column Content, Media and Text, Post Grid, Testimonials, and FAQ.
* Visible keyboard focus, forced-colors support, reduced-motion behavior, and semantic landmarks.
* Separate parent and child stylesheet loading with independent versions.

== Installation ==

1. Open Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme.
2. Upload `acl-trace-3.0.0.zip`.
3. Install and activate ACL Trace.
4. Open Appearance > Editor to customize the theme.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Does ACL Trace require a companion plugin? =

No. The companion plugins listed in the description are optional.

= Does ACL Trace include third-party commerce integration? =

No third-party commerce integration is included or claimed for 3.0.0.

= How do child themes load CSS? =

The parent stylesheet loads once. When a child theme is active, its stylesheet loads once after the parent and uses its own file modification version.

= Is an acl-trace-main development checkout upgraded automatically? =

No. `acl-trace-main` and `acl-trace` are different theme slugs. Back up the database and migrate only verified slug-scoped state before activating the production package.

== Changelog ==

= 3.0.0 =
* Established the presentation-only architecture and ACL Site Essentials separation.
* Preserved canonical native templates and moved the design foundation to theme.json v3.
* Added the dark Trace Magenta identity, responsive typography, and semantic component system.
* Consolidated the production pattern library to eight patterns.
* Improved focus, forced-colors, reduced-motion, overflow, and responsive behavior.
* Hardened release metadata, portable Navigation, child-theme styles, packaging, documentation, translation, and screenshot assets.
* Removed unvalidated third-party commerce support declarations and claims.

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 3.0.0 =
Development folders named `acl-trace-main` are separate from the production `acl-trace` package. Back up and migrate verified slug-scoped state before activation.

== Copyright ==

ACL Trace WordPress Theme, (C) 2026 Ash Creative Labs
ACL Trace is distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 or later.