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Feature plan: Step 1 · Step 2 · Step 3 · Step 4

Debug mode: enabled

Effort study: railspike-effort / v3/engagify_theme; host ledger. Standing P2 enrollment. No parent cycle; v3/theme_directive (planned on branch plan/theme_directive) depends on this cycle.

Extended estimates: enabled

Cycle estimate: 0.80

Concepts touched: proposed "theme script" (created in Stage 1, entry written in Stage 8); proposed "page theme" (created in Stage 3, entry written in Stage 8); theme navigation icons (used unchanged; Engagify adds no icon set).

Completion Contract

  • Normal entry: a reader opens the cookie notice thread, thread-20261102152258-25e82c97, or picks Engagify from the theme menu.

  • End-to-end outcome: the thread shows Engagify and its five core nags. Exit returns the reader's own theme without a reload, and a revisit stays on it. A reader who picked Engagify gets their previous theme back on Exit.

  • Recovery: a failed theme script leaves Engagify colors and a visible Exit. JavaScript off shows the site default theme and no nags. Switching away removes every Engagify element and timer.

  • Deployment: the release rebuilds baked thread pages, so the cookie thread's baked file carries its page theme.

  • Release condition: smoke and changed tests pass; a browser sweep covers a fresh browser and one with a saved theme, at desktop and 380px, by mouse and keyboard. The full suite is not run.

Key Risks

  • High risk: Pre-paint precedence. The inline script in layout.php now weighs a page theme, a remembered Exit and a saved theme. Impact: a wrong order traps readers in Engagify or flashes the wrong theme. Early validation: Stage 3 tests each combination in LocalAppSmokeTest. Mitigation: one precedence function, page theme first unless that page has a remembered Exit.

  • Script cleanup. Impact: nags or timers survive a theme switch. Early validation: Stage 1 switches a theme with a script to Word 97 and back. Mitigation: every theme script registers one start and one stop entry point, and theme_toggle.js calls them.

  • Covering controls. Impact: overlays hide Reply or the theme menu. Early validation: Stage 5 tabs through the thread at 380px. Mitigation: Exit comes first in each nag's tab order; the theme menu stays above overlays.

  • Baked pages. Impact: the cookie thread's baked file lacks its page theme. Early validation: Stage 4 builds that file and reads its page theme mark. Mitigation: the layout renders the mark, so the builder bakes it with no change.

Stage 1

Estimate: 0.12

  • Goal: a theme can ship a script that runs only while it is active.

  • Dependencies: none.

  • Expected changes: ThemeRegistry.php entries gain an optional script, with scriptPaths() beside stylesheetPaths(). TemplateRenderer.php passes fingerprinted script paths to layout.php, whose pre-paint script loads the active theme's script. theme_toggle.js stops the old theme's script and starts the new one on every switch.

  • Verification approach: ThemeRegistryTest cases for script paths; a browser check that switches to and from a stub theme script and finds no leftovers.

  • Estimate details: driver: start/stop wiring through the existing stylesheet swap; uncertainty: low to medium.

  • Risks or open questions: script cleanup, as in Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: ThemeRegistry::stylesheetPaths pattern (extended), the layout.php pre-paint script and window.forumThemeStylesheetPaths (extended), theme_toggle.js theme selection (extended).

Stage 2

Estimate: 0.10

  • Goal: Engagify is a selectable theme with its look and an Exit control that restores the previous theme.

  • Dependencies: Stage 1.

  • Expected changes: an engagify registry entry and zenmemes permitted theme; theme-engagify.css with variables, swatch and scoped garnish; theme-engagify.js with an always-visible Exit. Choosing Engagify remembers the theme before it; Exit restores that theme.

  • Verification approach: ThemeRegistryTest and LocalAppSmokeTest allow-list updates; theme_cycle.cjs; select Engagify, Exit, confirm the earlier theme returns.

  • Estimate details: driver: a bold stylesheet that leaves controls usable; uncertainty: low.

  • Risks or open questions: the contrast audit in theme_contrast_audit.py may flag the parody palette; fix contrast, keep the joke.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: the theme guide's file pattern, zenmemes-theme storage key (reused), SiteProfileRegistry permitted themes (extended).

Stage 3

Estimate: 0.14

  • Goal: a page in the site profile shows its own theme by default, and Exit turns it off for that page.

  • Dependencies: Stage 2.

  • Expected changes: SiteProfileRegistry.php profiles gain a validated page theme list; zenmemes maps the cookie notice thread to Engagify. TemplateRenderer.php resolves the request path and passes a page theme mark to layout.php. The pre-paint script applies it unless that page has a remembered Exit. Exit and any menu choice on that page record the Exit. standalone_layout.php is checked and left alone if no thread page uses it.

  • Verification approach: SiteProfileRegistryTest for validation; LocalAppSmokeTest for fresh, saved-theme and exited visits; a browser check on the cookie thread.

  • Estimate details: driver: precedence in the pre-paint script; uncertainty: medium.

  • Risks or open questions: pre-paint precedence, as in Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: data-default-theme precedence (extended), SiteProfileRegistry::validate (extended).

Stage 4

Estimate: 0.05

  • Goal: baked thread pages carry their page theme.

  • Dependencies: Stage 3.

  • Expected changes: none expected in StaticArtifactBuilder.php; a test that bakes the cookie thread and finds its page theme mark.

  • Verification approach: php scripts/build_static_artifacts.php locally, then read the cookie thread's file.

  • Estimate details: driver: confirming the builder path; uncertainty: low.

  • Risks or open questions: baked pages, as in Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: StaticArtifactBuilder (used unchanged).

Stage 5

Estimate: 0.10

  • Goal: the cookie banner, "Open in app" bar and notification prompt.

  • Dependencies: Stage 2.

  • Expected changes: three nag pieces in theme-engagify.js, each with dismiss and Exit, styled in theme-engagify.css.

  • Verification approach: browser check of each nag by mouse and keyboard at 380px; switch away and confirm removal.

  • Estimate details: driver: keyboard order and overlay layering; uncertainty: low.

  • Risks or open questions: covering controls, as in Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: Stage 1 start/stop contract (used).

Stage 6

Estimate: 0.12

  • Goal: the newsletter popup with a guilt-trip decline, and the rate-us flow from the mockup.

  • Dependencies: Stage 5.

  • Expected changes: two delayed nag pieces. The rate-us flow asks "Enjoying ZenMemes?", sends low ratings to a private box, asks five-star raters to review elsewhere, and returns after "Remind me later".

  • Verification approach: walk every rate-us branch; confirm its timer stops on Exit and on a theme switch.

  • Estimate details: driver: the rate-us branches and timer; uncertainty: low.

  • Risks or open questions: none beyond Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: Stage 1 start/stop contract (used).

Stage 7

Estimate: 0.12

  • Goal: stretch nags, only if Stages 1–6 finish within plan.

  • Dependencies: Stage 6.

  • Expected changes: fake sign-up toasts, countdown, chat bubble, paywall fade, stacked sticky bars and "Summarize with AI" buttons, each a separate piece. Unbuilt ones are recorded as a follow-up.

  • Verification approach: as Stage 5.

  • Estimate details: driver: count of nags built; uncertainty: medium.

  • Risks or open questions: the paywall fade must not hide the thread for keyboard readers.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: Stage 1 start/stop contract (used).

Stage 8

Estimate: 0.10

  • Goal: documentation and the release sweep.

  • Dependencies: Stages 1–6, and Stage 7 if built.

  • Expected changes: theme guide sections on theme scripts, page themes and rebuilding; concept entries for theme script and page theme.

  • Verification approach: smoke plus changed tests; a browser sweep of the cookie thread and one other page, fresh and with a saved theme, at desktop and 380px; review the full diff for duplication and scope.

  • Estimate details: driver: the sweep across browser states; uncertainty: low.

  • Risks or open questions: none beyond Key Risks.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: docs/runbooks/theme_development_guide.md (extended), docs/concepts/ (two entries added).

Study checkpoint

2026-11-07T11:58:20Z, railspike-effort / v3/engagify_theme, Step 3 handoff. Step 2 explicitly approved after its revision. Scope v5 unchanged. Starting revision f343b6269a3b786e4ebe1ab383096f2109461933; reference R1, protocol P2; frozen R1 hashes not re-verified. Single exposed Claude rater. Whole-cycle projected total 0.80 reaffirmed. Stage-work originals 0.12/0.10/0.14/0.05/0.10/0.12/0.12/0.10 are independent and do not add up. No implementation, measured labor or accepted outcome.

Enhancement Requests

Carried from Step 2: page themes declared inside a thread (v3/theme_directive (planned on branch plan/theme_directive), approval pending there); stretch nags are Stage 7; the CSS-only alternative remains declined.

— Claude · 2026-11-07 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5