The holidays are just around the corner, so I’m happy to introduce Merriment, a festive new theme for ClassicPress made to celebrate Christmas.

A cozy, festive look

Merriment pairs a snowy night scene in the header, with your site title over it, and a cozy holly background behind your content. Its palette is built around evergreen, holly red, and candlelight gold, with Fira Sans headings, easy-to-read Merriweather text, and dates written in the elegant Tangerine script.

The header image and background were made just for Merriment, and they’re licensed under the GPL like the theme itself, so you’re free to use them.

Made for every screen

Merriment is responsive and mobile ready. On larger screens, your menu shows dropdowns for sub-items. On phones, it tucks behind a Menu button at the bottom left of the screen, right where your thumb is.

Make it your own

Everything is set up in Appearance → Customize:

• Layout: put the sidebar on the left or right, or go with no sidebar at all.
• Header image and background: keep the festive defaults or upload your own.
• Menus: a primary menu in the header, and a social menu in the footer that shows icons for common sites.
• Widgets: a sidebar and a footer widget area.

It also supports featured images and threaded comments, and it’s translation ready.

Built on solid ground

Under the festive look, Merriment is built on the Backdrop framework, just like my other themes. It requires ClassicPress 2.0 or later and PHP 7.4 or later.

Get Merriment

Merriment is free, like all of my themes.

• View the theme for features and screenshots.
• Read the documentation to install and customize it.
• Download the latest release on GitHub.

Have a merry Christmas, and if you use Merriment on your site this season, I’d love to see it!

If you’ve visited the home page lately, you may have noticed something new: a Flagship Theme section, right at the top. The theme sitting there is Prismatic, and I want to share why I picked it.

What is Prismatic?

Prismatic is a clean, minimal, and modern theme for ClassicPress, perfect for blogs or personal sites. It features a two-column layout with a customizable sidebar and a focus on readability and content presentation. Like all of my themes, it’s free.

Why it’s the flagship

Out of every theme in the portfolio, Prismatic is the one that best shows what I want a theme to be: simple to set up, easy to read, and flexible enough to make your own.

• Made for ClassicPress. It requires ClassicPress 2.0 or later and PHP 7.4 or later, and it’s listed in the ClassicPress theme directory.
• Built on Backdrop. It’s built on the Backdrop framework, which gives it a solid foundation for templates, the Customizer, and more.
• Accessibility and translation ready. It’s built so everyone can use your site, and every string can be translated into your language.

What you can customize

Prismatic gives you a lot of control without writing any code:

• Layouts. Put the sidebar on the left or right, and use page templates like Showcase and Custom Sidebar for individual pages.
• Backgrounds. Pick a solid color, upload an image, or choose from dozens of built-in background patterns, and see the change instantly in the Customizer.
• Header. Add a custom header image and set your own header colors.
• Featured images, menus, and threaded comments, all styled to match the theme.

Kept up to date

Prismatic has had a big round of updates recently. It now builds its styles and scripts with Vite instead of Laravel Mix, runs on the latest Backdrop framework, includes a full translation template, and fixes a number of Customizer and settings page issues along the way. You can read every change in the changelog on GitHub.

Get Prismatic

• View the theme for features and screenshots.
• Read the documentation to install, customize, and extend it.
• Download it from the ClassicPress directory.
• Browse the code on GitHub, where issues and pull requests are always welcome.

If you build something with Prismatic, I’d love to see it!

Meet Generosity, a next-generation theme designed for ClassicPress, offering an ideal experience for showcasing your site’s content.

A header that’s out of this world

Generosity comes with three header images to choose from: the Andromeda Galaxy (the default), the Sombrero Galaxy, and a MacBook Pro. Or upload your own.

Choose your layout

Put the sidebar on the left or the right, or go with no sidebar for a clean, focused look.

Lean and tidy

Generosity adds a settings page under Appearance → Generosity Settings. Pick a custom page to show for broken links, and turn off things many sites don’t need, like emoji scripts, the front-end toolbar, and embeds, to keep your pages light.

Built on Backdrop

Generosity is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. To customize it safely, create a child theme.

Get Generosity

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it on GitHub

White Spektrum is here, rebuilt with a responsive design that looks great on smartphones, tablets, and everything in between.

Easy to get around on any screen

White Spektrum takes a different approach to mobile navigation: the menu button sits at the bottom left of the screen. That’s where your thumb naturally rests, so visitors can find their way around your site without stretching.

Features that make your site shine

• Custom header: show off a large header image, or use your own.
• Left and right sidebars: choose which side your sidebar appears on.
• Featured images: give every post a strong first impression.

Built on Backdrop

White Spektrum is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. To customize it safely, create a child theme.

Get White Spektrum

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it on GitHub

I’m happy to introduce Prismatic, a clean, minimal, and modern theme for ClassicPress, perfect for blogs or personal sites.

Made for reading

Prismatic features a two-column layout with a customizable sidebar and a real focus on readability. Your content gets the space it deserves, and your sidebar keeps everything else close at hand.

Make it yours

• Layout: put the sidebar on the left or the right.
• Header: add your own header image and choose the header’s colors.
• Page templates: give individual pages their own layout, with their own widgets.

It also supports featured images and threaded comments, and it’s translation ready.

Built on Backdrop

Prismatic is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. To customize it safely, create a child theme.

Get Prismatic

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it from the ClassicPress directory

Say hello to Amicable, a clean, friendly theme for ClassicPress bloggers.

Simple and focused

Amicable is a one-column theme with no sidebar, so nothing pulls attention away from your writing. It’s built for readers, with plenty of room for your words and images.

Featured images, your way

Choose the size and shape of the featured images on your posts right in the Customizer. Go with landscape images in four sizes, portrait, or square, whichever suits your content.

Menus in the right places

Put your main pages in the Primary menu in the header, and links to your social profiles in the Social menu in the footer.

Built on Backdrop

Amicable is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. To customize it safely, create a child theme.

Get Amicable

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it on GitHub

Meet Creativity, a new ClassicPress theme made for showcasing your work.

A home page that tells your story

Creativity’s Home template builds your front page from three sections, each one you can turn on and edit in the Customizer:

• Header: an introduction with your own title and description.
• Portfolio: your latest portfolio items, powered by the Backdrop Custom Portfolio plugin.
• Blog: your two latest posts.

It’s a great fit for designers, photographers, developers, and anyone who wants a portfolio and a blog in one place.

Layouts for every page

Put the sidebar on the left or right across your site, then fine-tune individual pages with the Left Sidebar, Right Sidebar, and Custom Sidebar page templates. With four widget areas (Primary, Secondary, Portfolio, and Custom), each part of your site can have its own widgets.

Built on Backdrop

Creativity is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. To customize it safely, create a child theme.

Get Creativity

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it on GitHub

I’m excited to introduce Inheritance, a modern starter theme built on Backdrop, designed to give your site everything it needs right out of the box.

Built with phones in mind

Most people hold their phone near the bottom of the screen, so Inheritance puts its menu button at the bottom left, right where your thumb already is. It’s a small change that makes getting around your site on a phone much easier.

The header adapts too. If you haven’t set up a menu, your site title and tagline sit in the center. Once you add a menu, they move to the left and the menu sits on the right.

Your posts, front and center

Inheritance is a clean, one-column theme. Your posts are shown in a grid, so visitors can see more of your writing at a glance. It’s paired with Merriweather for easy reading and Fira Sans for headings.

A solid starting point

Inheritance is a parent theme, built on the Backdrop framework. Use it as is, or build a child theme on top of it to make it your own.

Get Inheritance

• View the theme
• Read the documentation
• Download it on GitHub