Journal
New default theme – Twenty Eleven
The face of WordPress is constantly changing. Last year, Automattic released a new default theme (Twenty Ten) for the first time in 5 years. Twenty Ten is already old news, though.
With version 3.2 geared up and almost ready for release, Automattic has not only improved WordPress’ core functionality, they’ve also introduced Twenty Eleven, the new theme on the block.
Twenty Eleven originated from the Duster theme released by Ian Stewart just a few months ago. Since then, some updates have been added:
Post Formats
Users now have 7 default post formats to choose from when publishing – Standard, Aside, Link, Gallery, Status, Quote, or Image. Similar to custom post types, post formats use a specific template file to display content appropriately.
Options Panel
Finally, a built-in options panel. It only has a few simple theme style options, but it definitely has potential for more functionality. Previously, developers have used Devin’s Options Framework or needed to create custom panels. The corresponding files for the options panel are located in the inc folder.
You may also create custom color schemes for Twenty Eleven. Check out the new colors folder and reference the twentyeleven_color_schemes function in functions.php for the code used to create a scheme.
Showcase Template
Since version 2.5, we’ve been able to create image galleries and insert them into posts and pages using nifty shortcodes. Our new default themes comes with a new Showcase Page designed to, well, showcase your favorite posts. All you’ve gotta do is mark these posts as Sticky.
Pull Quotes
Spice up your blog posts by using the CSS class “pull” on blockquotes or images. This class will break the element out from the post content into one of the margins on single posts and pages. Simply use the following code:
<blockquote class="pull alignright">Your quote here</blockquote>
Responsive Layout
The Twenty Eleven layout uses naturally adapts to the size of your browser window. If your visitors are using a mobile device, it will respond with an optimized design. If you would like to view the styles for this, check out the “Responsive Structure” section in the stylesheet.
That just about wraps it up! Please let us know your thoughts on the new theme. If you’re doing something fun and exciting with Twenty Eleven, we’d love to hear.
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There are 4 comments on this post so far:
Daniel said on June 22, 2011 at 5:20pm:
I did a talk about this new theme the other day, it is really exciting! Making up for lost time after Kubrick for so many years.
Dan Philibin said on June 22, 2011 at 6:20pm:
I’ve always thought that the default WordPress theme should be a good mix between showing off WordPress’s features, following good code practices, utilizing modern coding techniques (like responsive layouts), and keeping it simple enough for beginner users to make it their own. Well done!
Markus @loimp said on June 22, 2011 at 7:11pm:
I just started building http://startawebsitenow.com using the Twenty Eleven theme as the base and I love the fluid layout feature – just need to make sure I don’t mess it up by adding fixed widths, backgrounds, etc. as I change things around.
Overall, I’m really digging the theme. Just gotta figure out how to unbloat the CSS a bit.
Love your site, by the way. Can see how much attention went into it.
g said on July 6, 2011 at 11:32am:
twenty eleven theme looks promising… but the hype is over. the reality is it only shows the sidebar on the homepage and not on pages and posts. worst, there is no option to show it.