The Unstandard WordPress theme is released / shared with the intent of breaking the typical blog mold. Farewell to the blase reverse chronological text heavy front pages, and hello to visuals & imagery to lure visitors deeper into your website / blog. A WordPress theme comprised of a – grid aligned – images for forward facing pages, and clean textual presentation on the inner pages. Originally developed for personal use, and modified for release, I felt that an update to the WordPress themes made available on 5thirtyone.com was due.

Basic Features:

• 2 columns
• Right sidebar
• Footer
• WP 2.3 – 2.5 compatible
• Works on Firefox, IE & Opera
• XHTML compliant

Screenshot:

NOTE: The Unstandard theme requires the use of WordPress custom fields for it to display the lead and secondary images displayed on the home page, index, and search results. Derek provides a detailed instruction and a screenshot in the theme page.

My Take:
I’ve always been a fan of Derek, 5thirtyone and his WordPress themes. The Unstandard theme is no exception. I love this theme! If I still had a personal blog, I’d install this theme right away.

The Unstandard theme, like it’s name is unique and a bit “unorthodox” WordPress theme. Instead of the normal index page filled with lots of text, this theme uses images as its “post excerpt”.

There are three things IMO that makes the Unstandard theme less “marketable” or appealing to WordPress users. The first being that it’s not a widget-ready theme meaning that WordPress users who rely heavily on widgets would have to pass or wait until it gets widgetized. Second would be the required use of custom fields and I know for a fact that most WordPress users aren’t familiar with this WordPress feature. Last but not least, the need to create two separate graphics for each post. Not all users have the time or resources to do this and for any blogger, this process can be time consuming.

As mentioned earlier, this theme was originally developed for Derek’s personal use, meaning this theme wasn’t created for the public or to cater to most WordPress users. I know there are still a lot of folks who are more than happy to see this theme released. I’m sure that in a matter of time, we’ll see several customized versions of this theme out in the wild.

Overall, I still think that the Unstandard WordPress Theme is one awesome theme. Kudos to Derek for creating another inspirational theme and for sharing it to the public. I give the Unstandard a 4.5 out of 5.

Preview or Download the Unstandard theme for WordPress.