Excellent way for a theme author to allow extra functionality with locking in

I’m co-author of the Memberlite Shortcodes plugin. We wrote this plugin in preparation for releasing our open source Memberlite Theme into the theme repository here on www.remarpro.com.

Using a separate plugin for certain theme features allows us to add more technical tools to our project, without overloading the main theme. This plugin also allows site owners to make use of certain features in the Memberlite Theme without having to totally migrate away from their current theme.