I’ve just enabled some new themes on the Commons. Themes are an important component on the Commons. They allow our authors to customize the platform on which they share their voices with the world. Our goal with the Commons is not just to create a safe and caring environment, but to also compete on the Web 2.0 stage, and provide a better blogging experience than you would find on other commercial blog platforms. Having a rich catalogue of themes in part of that vision.
The chart below shows the theme usage on the network. A large number of sites are still sporting the default theme. This could be due to the fact that the default themes are quite nice (I was sporting the TwentyThirteen theme on my own site for the past few months, and we use a slightly customized version of that theme for the main Commons site), but I think there are a number of other users who perhaps don’t know, or haven’t explored, the Appearance menu in the dashboard in order to find a theme that suits their style and audience.
I try to ensure that they themes we provide are as feature-rich as possible, allowing for colour and header customization, custom menus, and sidebar widgets. That said, there are always some themes that we offer just because they look fantastic, despite lacking a feature or two.
If you are still sporting one of the “twenty_____” themes, because you didn’t realize you had options, go and check out some of the new arrivals and put a fresh coat of paint on your blog.
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