The WordPress Themes Repository has reached an impressive milestone: 1,000 block themes! As of today, there are over 12,000 free themes available, but this particular benchmark highlights the growth of block themes, which have become a transformative part of WordPress’s design landscape.
Block themes, introduced in WordPress 5.9, marked the beginning of a new era in website customization, giving users the ability to design every part of their site directly within the block editor. The repository celebrated 100 block themes by July 2022 and quickly doubled that number by December 2022, despite some challenges that initially limited adoption. In response, the WordPress community added a “Block Themes” filter on the directory homepage to help developers and site owners find these modern themes more easily.
Ganga Kafle from the WordPress Themes Team recently shed light on block theme contributors, noting that Automattic leads with 116 themes, followed by Creta Themes with 41. The first block theme to launch was Armando, created by Carolina Nymark, who also offers a guide for developers interested in building their own block themes.
The journey has been a community effort. Remkus de Vries expressed enthusiasm on Twitter, remarking on the momentum block themes have finally gained. Meanwhile, Jeff Chandler reminded the community of Matt Mullenweg’s ambitious call for 5,000 block themes—a goal that remains in progress.
For developers ready to dive into block themes, resources like Nymark’s guide, the WordPress Theme Developer Handbook, and Learn WordPress provide valuable starting points. With community support and growing interest, block themes are poised to open up even more possibilities for creative, flexible WordPress design.
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