WordPress is introducing a new WordPress theme called Ipsum, planned as the default theme for WordPress 7.2. It is currently open for testing, and you can download it from the official GitHub repository.
The Ipsum WordPress theme aims to give you a simple starting point, especially if you want to blog. There is also a change in how WordPress will name and replace its default themes.
Why WordPress is introducing Ipsum
With some themes, you begin by working out what to remove. You may want a page with your latest posts, but the design you have installed has several sections that serve no purpose for your website. Then you need to figure out which settings control them.
This can be frustrating when you want to write and publish. You have a theme, but you still have work to do before it feels like your website.
The Ipsum theme takes a simpler approach. The WordPress team wants to give users a mostly blank starting point that they can make their own, with more design options available when needed. The official announcement explains this direction.
I like the idea. A default theme is often someone’s first experience of building a WordPress website. If that person only wants to publish blog posts, the initial setup should be easy to understand.
But a simpler design has to come with clear controls. Removing things from the page doesn’t automatically make the process easier. A beginner still needs to know how to add a menu, change the header or choose where the posts appear.
That is what I would want to examine when trying this new WordPress theme.
What you can expect from the Ipsum theme
The announced features focus on writing while leaving room to change the design:
- A simple blog layout: A mostly blank page as your starting point.
- Optional layout elements: Headers, large introductory sections and sidebars when you need them.
- Font choices: Different type combinations to change how the text looks.
- Style variations: Options that change the appearance of the page, including images.
- Accessibility: The announcement says the style combinations meet WCAG AA accessibility requirements.
These are details from the current design announcement. Formal development review is still ahead, so the theme can change before release.
For me, the useful question is how these options work together. Suppose you start with a straightforward blog and later want a sidebar. Can you add it without spending an afternoon rearranging the rest of the page?
Or perhaps you want to change the fonts. Can you do that and still keep your headings and paragraphs easy to read?
These are ordinary tasks, but they matter when you manage your own website. I would judge the Ipsum WordPress theme by how comfortably someone can carry them out.
What happens to the older Twenty themes?
WordPress is moving away from year-based names such as Twenty Twenty-Four and Twenty Twenty-Five. Future default themes will have their own names, and new designs will arrive when needed rather than following the calendar.
The announcement does not say that existing Twenty themes are being discontinued or that their support is ending. It describes a change in the approach to future default themes. WordPress explains the naming change here.
If you already use one of those themes, the new name alone is no reason to rebuild your website. I would base that decision on what your current theme lets you do, whether it is maintained and whether it still meets your needs.
I also see little value in changing a working design simply because another year has passed. A new theme should give you a useful reason to consider it.
Ipsum brings together a simpler starting page, optional design features and a move away from yearly theme names. Older themes have not been declared discontinued in this announcement. For me, the real test is whether a beginner can start publishing easily and make changes without getting lost in the settings. That is where a simple theme needs to prove itself.