With this update, the site now uses a block child theme alongside the shared WordPress.org parent theme, setting the stage for future improvements. The primary changes involved converting everything to blocks and standardizing the layout, typography, and colors. Additionally, the theme previewer was updated to include style variations and patterns registered by the theme. This update builds on the launch of the Plugin and Pattern directories introduced in April.
Here’s a look at the new homepage, followed by a single theme page, the theme previewer, and the updated theme filters.
![](https://i0.wp.com/make.wordpress.org/meta/files/2024/06/theme-directory-homepage.png?resize=776%2C524&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/make.wordpress.org/meta/files/2024/06/theme-directory-single-page.png?resize=776%2C524&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/make.wordpress.org/meta/files/2024/06/theme-directory-previewer.png?resize=776%2C428&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/make.wordpress.org/meta/files/2024/06/theme-directory-filters.png?resize=776%2C524&ssl=1)
When navigating the new theme, you will notice a few minor functional changes. For example, the homepage no longer includes a “Load more themes” button. Pagination is used instead, which also improves accessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility). This is a result of rearchitecting the site using a block Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. theme and incorporating as many core Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. WordPress blocks as possible, the Query block in this case. Previously, the Theme Directory was powered by a Backbone.js application, which was difficult to maintain and inconsistent with other directories on WordPress.org.
Next steps
The Theme Directory refresh is now live for WordPress.org and all foreign-language sites (Rosetta sites). Some translation work may need to be done for each locale, and that can be managed in the WordPress Theme Directory project.
It’s important to reiterate that this refresh was not a complete redesign. The aesthetic and architectural updates in this iteration purposefully did not alter how the Theme Directory works at a fundamental level. Future updates should build on this work and address the functional changes requested by the community.
If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvements, please add a ticket to the WordPress.org issues queue on GitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ or add a discussion item.
Finally, if you are interested in additional updates coming to WordPress.org and want to contribute, make sure to join the #website-redesign Slack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel. Thanks!
Props to @ryelle, @joen, @cbringmann, and @laurlittle for reviewing this post and providing feedback.
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+make.wordpress.org/support/
+make.wordpress.org/design/
+make.wordpress.org/polyglots/
+make.wordpress.org/marketing/
+make.wordpress.org/accessibility/
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