# ACL Trace 3.1.0 showcase

ACL Trace 3.1.0 combines the native Front Page and posts-index showcase with the 3.0.10 maintenance compatibility corrections.

For editable Page content, add a new Page, open the block inserter, choose **Patterns > Starter content > ACL Trace Showcase**, and select it once. The `acl-trace/showcase-page` pattern composes the existing hero, media, cards, Page-safe Query Loop and closing CTA in that order. It does not insert a header or footer. Keep the default Pages template and publish. The ordinary Pages template supplies its own header, Page title and footer, retains readable widths for ordinary content, and allows explicit wide/full blocks to use the available space. A full-aligned outer Group lets the showcase retain its existing centered layout and responsive gutters. Pattern insertion does not select the custom showcase template.

For the separate template option, create any Page, choose **Template > ACL Trace Showcase**, and publish it to display the complete composition independently of Settings > Reading. The Page title and content are not used by this template. Its file is `templates/acl-trace-showcase.html`, registered for Pages in `theme.json`. Edit the layout through Appearance > Editor > Templates > ACL Trace Showcase. The template uses the existing showcase header, hero, media, cards and closing patterns, plus the existing footer. Its Page-specific `acl-trace/showcase-page-query` pattern requests six recent posts with inheritance disabled. No content is copied into the Page.

The native Front Page template, `templates/front-page.html`, displays the showcase at the root URL in both Reading modes. It uses the normal header/navigation part, hero, media, static cards, native Post Content, independent six-post Query Loop, closing CTA and normal footer. The selected static front Page's actual content appears between the cards and Query Loop. The theme never writes or replaces that content. In Your latest posts mode there is no selected Page: the marked Post Content slot is empty. A narrow server-side block-render guard prevents WordPress's first-Post context from repeating a post body in that slot. It does not detect previews, hosts or query strings.

The separate `templates/home.html` retains its existing showcase and inherited query for a designated Posts page, including the Reading posts-per-page setting and native pagination. Saved Site Editor templates retain normal WordPress precedence and are never reset automatically. Edit the root composition through Appearance > Editor > Templates > Front Page.

The five content sections are a type-and-palette hero, a media-ready 16:9 composition, four labeled static card examples, a separate real Query Loop and a closing CTA. No sample posts, settings, media or pages are installed by the theme. Only the Query Loop uses site posts. Its generic examples are not part of the theme and were created only in a separate test database.

Use Appearance > Editor > Templates > Blog Home to edit the posts-index layout. The six original showcase patterns remain available in the ACL Trace pattern category: `acl-trace/showcase-hero`, `acl-trace/showcase-media`, `acl-trace/showcase-cards`, `acl-trace/showcase-query`, `acl-trace/showcase-close` and `acl-trace/showcase-navigation`. The additional `acl-trace/showcase-page-query` pattern provides the independent Page query. Existing public patterns retain their original content and slugs.

The Blog Home showcase Query Loop inherits the main WordPress query, preserving posts-index pagination and the configured posts-per-page setting. Its stored perPage value is not used in inherited mode. For standalone Pages, use `acl-trace/showcase-page` or `acl-trace/showcase-page-query`, whose independent query has `inherit: false` and `postType: post`. No theme code changes Reading settings, creates posts or pages, or saves templates.

Navigation and CTA links target section IDs within this complete showcase. If inserting an individual pattern on another page, edit its anchors and destinations to match that page. If inserting multiple copies, give each section a unique HTML anchor in the block's Advanced settings.

The media composition is an explicitly labeled placeholder, with no fake play control and no remote asset. Replace it with a native Video, Cover or Image block when adding your own media.

Cards reuse the registered `acl-card` Group style. Dedicated semantic card tokens in `theme.json` control the border, highlight, rule, shadow, hover shadow, radius fallback and 3px elevation. Keyboard focus gets an outline and the same depth as hover. Reduced motion suppresses translations and image scaling.

The supplied 1200 by 900 PNG is a real rendering of the packaged showcase template, proportionally resized from a larger viewport capture. It shows the hero, media composition and component cards. Raw capture and provenance are retained outside the distributable theme.

No special Page needs to be created or selected to display the root showcase. The starter Page pattern and custom Page template remain optional alternatives. If the selected static front Page already contains a complete showcase starter, its content will be displayed as authored in the content slot; remove that content manually if a second showcase is unwanted.

WordPress.org can expose theme-registered patterns in its preview interface. The directory screenshot supplies artwork; it does not set the main Preview destination, select a pattern or template, or create Page content. Those behaviors depend on the preview service and its content. This unpublished ZIP has not been tested on WordPress.org.