WordPress is gearing up to release their next default theme, Twenty Twenty-Four, this November. This highly anticipated theme aims to be more versatile and usable for a wider range of WordPress users compared to past default themes.
What is the Goal of the Twenty Twenty-Four Theme?
In the past, default WordPress themes have tended to cater to specific niches like blogging or photography. However, the goal with Twenty Twenty-Four is to create a theme that can work well for any website topic or industry.
The developers explored 3 main use cases that represent a broad range of common WordPress sites:
- Entrepreneurs and small businesses
- Photographers, artists, and creative professionals
- Writers and bloggers
No matter what type of website you want to create, Twenty Twenty-Four aims to provide a solid, customizable starting point. This theme is great for anyone looking for a clean, versatile foundation for their WordPress site.
Examining the Figma Design Files
To collaborate on the new theme, the WordPress design team has been using Figma. For those unfamiliar, Figma is an online design platform that lets multiple people work on mockups and prototypes together in real-time.
In the Figma files for Twenty Twenty-Four, you can dive in and see how the developers are exploring different template layouts for the 3 core use cases. For example, for entrepreneurs and small businesses, they are mocking up templates like a home page, about page, contact page, and more. For writers and bloggers, they have templates for elements like the blog post index, individual blog posts, and sidebar widgets. Photographers and creatives also have tailored templates for things like galleries and portfolios.
This behind-the-scenes look gives great insight into how WordPress themes get developed. The Figma files showcase the amazing amount of planning and consideration that goes into crafting these themes to meet diverse needs.
Download the Latest Beta Version
Even though Twenty Twenty-Four is still in active development and won’t officially launch until November, you can download a beta version today from GitHub to start testing it out.
Getting your hands on the beta is a great way to see the theme in action. It also lets you provide feedback and bug reports to the developers while things are still fluid.
There are a couple ways you can access the beta version:
- GitHub: You can download the ZIP file directly from the GitHub repo and install it on a test site. This gives you the latest version, but requires manually updating as changes are pushed.
- WordPress Playground: This lets you preview the theme in a WordPress environment right in your browser without needing to install it anywhere. It’s quick and easy, but may have some limitations.
- InstaWP: You can create a temporary test site here with Twenty Twenty-Four pre-installed to try it out. Helpful for experimenting without disrupting your live site.
Take some time to play around with the Twenty Twenty-Four beta. Try installing it on a staging environment or test site where you can safely preview it and break things without consequence.
Contribute to Development with Testing and Feedback
With a few months left until the full launch, now is a crucial time to jump in and start testing Twenty Twenty-Four. While it’s still being actively developed, you have the opportunity to shape the theme’s progress with your input.
As you experiment with the beta, leave detailed feedback for the developers:
- How is the overall experience and ease of use?
- How is the performance and speed?
- Are there any bugs or issues you encounter?
- What do you like or dislike about the design and templates?
- What improvements or changes would you suggest?
The more comprehensive feedback the team receives, the better they can iterate and improve Twenty Twenty-Four before its official release.
An Exciting New Direction for WordPress Themes
With a focus on versatility, ease of use, and multiple website types, Twenty Twenty-Four is shaping up to be one of the best and most flexible default starter themes WordPress has released in years.
It’s clear the developers are putting a ton of thought and effort into creating modern, adaptable layouts and design. Twenty Twenty-Four represents an exciting new direction for default WordPress themes.
This is an invaluable chance for the WordPress community to test things out early and help guide the theme’s progress. Download the beta today, take it for a spin, and share your feedback with the team! Let’s work together to make Twenty Twenty-Four amazing for new WordPress users when it launches later this year.
What do you think of Twenty Twenty-Four so far? Let us know on social media!
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