Theme Machine

The product: modules/d7_theme_compat/ — a Backdrop CMS module that lets unmodified Drupal 7 themes run on Backdrop CMS. Install just that module on any Backdrop site.

Everything else in this repo is the development and testing environment used to build and validate it across 170+ D7 themes.

What d7_theme_compat does

Makes D7 themes installable and renderable on Backdrop by:

• Injecting backdrop = 1.x into D7 .info files so Backdrop recognizes them
• Suppressing Backdrop's Layout system and rendering pages D7-style via theme('page', ...)
• Redirecting Backdrop's theme registry to use D7 core templates (shipped inside the module)
• Flattening Backdrop's array-style $classes and $attributes variables to strings, as D7 templates expect

Utility modules

These support the testing workflow and may be useful independently:

Module	What it does
modules/theme_tester/	Bee CLI command (bee theme-test) — smoke-tests all enabled themes automatically
modules/watchdog_tools/	Bee CLI commands for managing the watchdog log (bee watchdog-clear, bee watchdog-count)
modules/theme_menu_block/	Block that lists all enabled themes as one-click switcher links
modules/lost_regions/	Rescues blocks placed in regions that the active D7 theme doesn't declare
d7-modules/	D7 ports of sample_animal_content and theme_menu_block for the D7 test site

Requirements

• Backdrop CMS 1.x
• PHP 7.1+

Installation

Copy modules/d7_theme_compat/ into your Backdrop site's modules directory and enable it.

For the full testing environment, see the _workspace/ directory.

Repository structure

README.md               This file
DOC/                    Reference documentation
modules/                The product — Backdrop modules
  d7_theme_compat/        The compatibility layer
  theme_tester/           Automated theme smoke-testing
  watchdog_tools/         Watchdog log CLI tools
  theme_menu_block/       Theme switcher block
  lost_regions/           Fallback region rendering
d7-modules/             D7 ports of utility modules

_workspace/             Development & testing environment
  backdrop/               Backdrop CMS install (DDEV project)
  drupal-7/               Drupal 7 install (DDEV project)
  scripts/                Testing pipeline (compare.js, triage.js, etc.)
  TOOLING/                Theme catalogs, triage data, test results
  SPRINTS/                Sprint tracking
  HANDOFF/                Session journals
  CLAUDE.md               AI agent instructions

Documentation

• DOC/scripts-reference.md — Testing pipeline quick reference
• DOC/backdrop-for-llms.md — Backdrop vs D7 quick reference
• DOC/template-mapping.md — D7 ↔ Backdrop template substitution strategy
• DOC/theme-tester.md — bee theme-test usage
• DOC/lost-regions.md — Lost Regions module setup