Theme Design Guidelines

The following are a series of guidelines we use when designing themes. These are designed to ensure our themes are as flexible and easy to use as possible.

From a technical perspective, the theme developer guidelines on WordPress.com should be followed.

Must Support

• Must be attractive with and without featured images, and with no sidebars setup - this improves first impressions.
• Jetpack Infinite scroll on homepage, and archive pages.
• Custom Header Image.
• Custom Background.
• Custom Logo.
• Next and Previous post links on posts and pages.
• Comments.
• Tags and Category lists on posts.
• All code & assets should be GPL licensed (or compatible).
• At least 1 widget sidebar.
• At least 1 custom menu.
• Be retina ready.
• Everything on the Theme UX Requirements List.
• Accessibility Ready.
• All colour combinations should pass AA colour contrast standards.
• Pass Theme Check and VIP scanner plugin tests.

Recommended to Support

• Featured Images.
• Keep featured images in consistent proportions so that users can more easily predict thumbnail shapes & image crops.
• No images should be included as part of the theme. The only images on the site should be ones uploaded by the theme user (featured images, custom header etc).
• Use SVGs for site icons and any visual elements that can't be reproduced through CSS.
• Google Fonts/ default fonts. Never bundle fonts.
• Jetpack Social media icons (controlled through a custom menu).
• Alternate design for sticky posts on archive pages.

Can Optionally Support

• Jetpack Featured Content.
• Jetpack Testimonials.
• Jetpack Portfolios/ Projects.
• Customizer Options - options used should be kept to a minimum.

Must not Support

• Admin options page.
• Bundled plugins.
• Anything that changes the default admin experience.