Recently I was looking for a very simple WordPress theme for one of my websites. My conditions were:
- Free, Responsive
- Total Zipped size near or below 1 mb
- Large, easily noticeable font
- High content priority
- Reputed and reliable
- Fast and light on server
- Easily customisable
I tested out a good number of themes and here are the ones I shortlisted. Let’s modify!
Note: If you have a theme that you feel should be on this list, comment below. I will add it if found worthy. Alternatively you can contact me at modifiedxonlinegmail.com
Socially Viral
I am a huge fan of Mythemeshop, not only because they have great themes but also for their good support. I’ve been using their ‘Best’ premium theme for quite some time now and hasn’t had any kind of problem. So naturally my first choice was their free themes, specifically Socially Viral and Point.
Socially Viral free is a great lightweight theme that facilitates easy sharing. It is just more than 1mb in file size and fits most of my above conditions perfectly.
Pineapple
Pineapple is a very exciting theme that I stumbled upon and you will know why when check out its demo. It’s as simple as themes gets, and has blog-like homepage with large featured images with excerpt/full length content. The Posts are also very content-centric.
Though it’s free, the theme offers good amount of customisation options through the customizer.
Sparkling
“We created an awesome free theme to set the industry standard” – Colorlib
The sparkling theme comes with a wide range of features that are near or on par with some premium themes. It has a clean, minimal layout focused on content. The theme is hugely popular on the WordPress directory as well, having 5/5 rating after more than 60,000 downloads!.
The theme has a file size of 1.5mb
Stargazer
“Most advanced theme ever created for WordPress without compromising standards”
Star Gazer claims to be the ‘most advanced theme ever created for WordPress without compromising standards’. It has a long list of customisation options available and even has a number of pre-built child themes for you to download free (Check their website).
Demo (Mixr- one of its child theme)| Download
Semi Colon
“Quite possibly the cleanest magazine theme for WordPress”
Semi Colon claims to be “quite possibly the cleanest magazine theme for WordPress” and has a promising demo to match. Its zipped file size is just 756kb but the clean interface is sure to keep your visitors hooked. Some nifty features like post view count also comes as part of the package.
Omega
Omega is a really simple ‘black-white’ theme that focuses on text, above all. It is rated highly on WordPress and has a filesize below 500kb.
The theme focuses only on the bare minimum necessities of blogging and doesn’t have anything too flashy
Exposition
Exposition theme is another simple WordPress theme. It is perfect for people who want to have a clean theme that project both the content and its author.
Note: This theme hasn’t been updated in the WordPress directory for almost 2 years.
Minimum Minimal
It’s just as the title says- A very minimal theme. The theme hasn’t been around for long and from what little I’ve tested it looks good. It doesn’t provide any excerpts in the homepage and you are even free to go ‘thumbnail free’ and it will look just as good.
Check it out and find if it suits you.