News
What Was Your First WordPress Theme?
Do you still remember the first WordPress theme you used on your blog? I do.
I switched from Blogger to WordPress in the early part of 2003 and the first WordPress theme I used on my blog was not the default theme but a theme called “Falling Dreams” by Razvan Teodorescu. If you’ve visited my blog before or were already using WordPress back then, you should be familiar with this theme. Razvan still uses the theme on his own blog as you can see from the screenshot below.
In those days, WordPress users didn’t have much choices like we do today. There were no sites that offered premium WordPress themes or designed custom WordPress themes, only free themes that were created by other skilled WordPress users who generously shared it to the rest of the community.
Back then, WordPress themes were pretty simple and didn’t have much features to it. There were no available widgets for WordPress yet and there were few available plugins. Falling Dreams was one of the best looking WordPress themes available at that time and its narrow layout made it unique from other WordPress themes. The thing I liked most about Falling Dreams was its color scheme and the custom background image. Aside from that, it also had custom icons/graphics, CSS link hover styles and rotating header images which at that time were very cool features for a WordPress theme.
I don’t remember the next WordPress theme I used but I do remember that I used Falling Dreams for quite a long time on my blog. That time, I was still on a free web hosting account and didn’t have my own domain name yet. Looking back, I can’t help but feel grateful for what I have now and realize how much my blog has grown and evolved. Same goes for WordPress. The community has grown so big and the amount of resources available to its users is so vast and diverse.
How about you guys? Do you still remember the first WordPress theme you used on your blog? It would be nice if you can share it with us.
This post may contain affiliate links that allow us to earn commissions at no additional cost to you. We are reader-supported so when you buy through the affiliate links, you are also helping or supporting us.
hi, what theme are you using for this blog right now. thanks
@jack – I’m using the Fresh News theme from WooThemes.
@Ed – Thanks for sharing! You’ve done a great job customizing the Mimbo theme. Its good that you were able to get your own self-hosted WordPress blog early. All the best! :)
I'm an 89-day old blogger at WordPress. I started at WP's free-hosted site using Andreas04. About 20 days later, we moved my weblog to our self-hosted site as a sub-domain of an old URL of ours. I am now using the free Mimbo theme.
@sayed – Hi! Thanks for sharing your WordCamp Egypt 2009 talk slideshow. Its very interesting and very informative especially for those who are planning on creating their very own WordPress theme. Btw, is that the first WordCamp held in Egypt?
<strong>there</strong> speedev.net/sayed/mywordcamp-egypt-2009-session/
wow! nice topic :)
i had a session about your first wordpress theme in wordcamp Egypt 2009
waiting for your opinion :)
@Raju – Oh okay, so you’re quite new to WordPress. I think most of us started out with Blogger, WordPress.com or with free hosting. I used free hosting for about 2 years before I was able to afford my own web hosting account. :)
I switched to WordPress sometime in mid of 2008 (was using a free host). That was when I was using dilectio!
@jeremae – Great job customizing your blog theme and layout. :)
my blog is new.. within one month, i used two themes..
my first one was designed by Scribblescratch..
and my current one was designed by chiq montes..
i just edited it with the images from scribblescratch..
@trench – Oh I see. I remember when I first visited your blog, it was sporting a modified version of K2 and made me change my blog theme and try out K2. :D
my blog came up around 2004. I used a highly modified version of the Kubrick theme. The original one of course. I also tinkered alot with K2
@jhay – Nice, you also remember your first WP theme. I do remember that Orange sky theme. I checked out her blog and yeah, she still does use the theme. Is it an updated version of Orange Sky? Coz I don’t think the old version would be able to support WP 2.7. If not, maybe she or someone modified it for her.
My first theme was Orange Sky by detlog.org, thanks to this theme, I learned the basics of WP theme codes, PHP, basically how to tweak a theme.
What’s amazing is after all these years, Ellen Tordesillas still uses the same theme.
@jan – Haha..that was a good one. Anyways, there’s nothing wrong with daydreaming. Oh wait, you’re not daydreaming but hallucinating and those two are different. LOL
Don’ worry my friend, you’ll have a self-hosted WordPress blog soon. ;)
@Raju – When did you start using WordPress? Yes, Dilectio is a very popular WP theme especially since it was released by Smashing Magazine. Firebug is a nice theme too, I wish I was able to do a review of it earlier. Yes, Fresh News. I fell in love with this theme, the moment I first laid my eyes on it. Hehe :D
@Jam – Hehe..I noticed that most of us here love changing themes every so often. Are those themes you made yourself of you customized free WordPress themes and made it your own?
Oh, my first WP theme was something called Woo. Then I shifted to Thesis. Now, I'm looking out for a new one – something that will not cramp my style. Any suggestion?
LOL. I need to get some sleep. I'm hallucinating already. :)
@Ade – I like changing themes too but at the start I stuck with the Falling Dreams theme coz back then, there weren’t much to choose from unlike now. I won’t be surprised if it was Kubrick. :D
@jong – I’ve also used the Kubrick and the K2 on my blog before. I think they’re one of the most popular WP themes ever. If you get the screenshot of your previous theme, do share it with us. :)
When I started out, I was using a beautiful theme called DILECTIO but then realized its way too common, then i moved to FIREBUG, which was dark and sexy theme. Finally I moved to Fresh News (same as yours!)
When I started my first blog, I kept on changing the layout week, so I am not kinda sure which theme was the first I used. But I think it was a Grunge kind of theme. Then I used my customized themes.
I changed themes way too much back in 2006, and I can't even remember. I guess it's an edited Kubrick. Can't be too sure, though.
Aside from the default theme, I tweak a theme based from kubrick. i entitled it Still waiting for some reasons :D. anyhow, If id get the chance, i'll get a screenshot of my past wordpress theme :D
@joie – Hehe you actually liked the default WP theme? So you don’t remember the first theme you used other than the default theme?
@K – aren’t you glad you switched to a self-hosted WordPress blog? :D
Yeah, I remember visiting your blog when it was still on WordPress.com and remember seeing a different theme each time I was there. Hehe I also know that you like minimalistic themes especially those with white backgrounds. ;)
Derek’s themes are some of the best WP themes available to WP users probably coz some of those themes were created for use on his own blog then later on made available to the public.
I just checked your blog and I already see an ad near the header section. Do you still need help with it? If you do, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
Oh yeah, I remember that Falling Dreams (I used it on my old domain which I closed down for good) and that was also the time/theme where you first visited my blog. I think.
Justin Tadlock has a few nice templates but a bit complicated to customize. I would say, not for beginners.
When I first blog at blogspot, nadah for the template, but when I moved to the free WordPress, I can’t remember how many I tried.
I am a fan of simple white background themes. Given that free WP.com templates are very limited for tweaking (only header image), the one I really really like was from Elifoner’s 2813, just plain text 3 columns. I don’t know if they upgraded it, looks nice. Then I had Journalist for a few months by Lucian E. Marin, 2 col, simple sidebars, I like how meta-tags, dates are divided at the bottom of each entry. The theme that lasted about a year or so was from Ben Gray’s Unsleepable. I love the simple header and the color contrast between the black and pinkish link. The 2 cols sidebar is clean enough but it has 3 col at bottom bars where everytime I see a template with that design, Ben Gray’s first come to mind.
Shall I go on? Derek Punzalan’s Grid Focus is one of the coolest template available for free. I’m still keeping it in case I get tired of my current.
If I visit to a blog, I want it to look like a blog with realy writer and commenters not a perfect-looking website full of links of big names on a sidebar.
Oh can you teach me how to put ads inline with my header? Thanks JP.
@sylv3rblade – Oh yeah, I remember seeing you using that theme on your blog. I also used that theme for JaypeeOnline way way back. Hehe :D
@deuts – You’re fortunate to have had a domain with your first WordPress install. I had mine like 2 years after I’ve started using WordPress. :D
Wow, you kept a documentation of all your themes and layouts. Cool! I wish I was able to do the same thing for JaypeeOnline.
The first theme that I used was the default of wordpress theme. I like it tho until I started to browse free wordpress theme and from then on I've used a lot of themes, deleted my blog twice and many sleepness nights of trying to understand the PHP codes of the themes.
If I remember correctly, it was the notsofreshe theme (same as GM Tristan before he got a revamp). I changed it after winning a theme from Blogging Mix XD
Back in 2006, I had my domain name and my very first install of WordPress.
My very first theme then was a dead simple two column plain white background theme. I couldn't remember already the name. But it lasted for I think 1 week only. But the first theme that received customizations only was the Sky3c theme that looked like this:
Deuts.NET through the years was documented in <a href="http://deuts.net/archives/2008/two-years-later.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.