Brian Gardner, founder of StudioPress and co-creator of the Genesis Framework, has a new block theme in the directory called Bright Mode. The theme features a vibrant color palette with tasteful gradients, 14 beautifully designed block patterns, and so many fun variations tucked into custom block styles. It’s difficult to nail down a niche for…
WordPress design contributors are cooking up a new idea for this year’s default theme release that would put the spotlight on style variations instead of the theme itself. The idea is rooted in comments that Twenty Twenty-Two designer Kjell Reigstad made last year when introducing the theme: Themes are in a transition period today, and…
The WordPress Themes Directory is sitting at 99 block themes today and will soon cross a major milestone. This momentum has been driven in part by independent designers like Brian Gardner, Anders Norén, and Rich Tabor, to name a few, who have fully embraced the new era of block themes and are leading the way…
This week has been heavy with theme news, as the discussion around improving block themes’ visibility in the directory became heated before the Themes Team landed on a course of action. Meta contributors added a new “Block Themes” menu item to the filter menu on the directory homepage, a solution that some classic theme developers…
Axton is a beautiful new addition to the WordPress Themes Directory from the team at Catch Themes. Those who have been waiting for more full-site editing-enabled themes that go beyond a simple blogging layout should have a look at Axton, as it is suitable for a portfolio, photography showcase, or even a business website. The…
Seven weeks ago, WordPress Theme Team contributors proposed several ideas for improving block themes’ visibility on WordPress.org. These included the possibility of changing the popular themes algorithm to more prominently feature block themes, and/or adding a new “Block” menu item next to Popular and Latest on the themes directory home page. The directory is going…
WordPress theme author Anders Norén has remade his popular Davis theme to support full-site editing. The new theme, Davis Blocks, is sporting the same clean design as its predecessor, and can be used as a starter theme or a lightweight blog theme. Norén said he built Davis Blocks to be as small as possible, while…
Two weeks ago, WordPress theme author Rich Tabor tweeted, “Even with my theme developer hat on, I’m finding it easier and easier to create block themes ~ within ~ WordPress. I’m positive one day (soon) this will be the norm.” It looks like that day has arrived sooner than expected, as Automattic has had a…
WordPress theme authors and contributors from the Themes team are exploring ways to make block themes more prominent on the official directory. These are themes that are specifically tagged with support for full-site editing. Despite WordPress having a block theme for its most recent default theme, authors have been slow to create more. There are…
Rich Tabor’s new Wei theme is one of the most well-designed contributions to hit WordPress.org’s free themes directory this month. Wei is a minimalist block theme that keeps things simple while offering users a range of artfully selected accent color combinations. It also includes support for full-site editing and Global Styles for a wider range…
And another theme shop hops on the block bandwagon. Catch Themes’ first block-based theme, Catch FSE, landed on WordPress.org over the weekend. The company is one of the most prolific authors in the official WordPress theme directory, touting a total of 109 themes. There are only a few others with such an impressive body of…
It is no secret that I have been excited about global style variations. The upcoming feature will allow theme designers to bundle multiple design presets. In turn, end-users can cycle through them, selecting their preferred look without changing their active theme. I have been writing about the feature since November 2021, holding out some hope…
On its face, Grigora Blocks by Latracal Solutions seems almost pedestrian. It feels like a theme you would use as a starting point to build your own thing. It will not have enough personality for everyone to give it a shot. However, for others, a base layout to customize is what they might be looking…
The day has finally arrived when a block theme does something interesting with the featured image on single post views. One of my biggest pet peeves is when themers simply dump it at the top of the content and call it a day. I nearly always bolt straight for the site editor to remove the…
Yesterday, DeoThemes’ latest block theme, Ona Creative, landed in the WordPress directory. It is the second child of Ona, a theme I initially showcased here on the Tavern in November 2021. When I first reviewed the Ona parent theme, WordPress 5.9 had yet to be released, and users were required to install the Gutenberg plugin…