Ian Stewart at Themeshaper is asking the question, how should the default theme in WordPress change?. It is clear that Kubrick just aint gonna cut it any more, this is true as much for its ubiquity as it is for the style and features it contains; but what comes next?

Theming has moved on a great deal since Kubrick became the default, so what is it that a default theme needs in the 2.5 era?

The key problem with Kubrick is that, despite the configurable options, Kubrick always looks like Kubrick. That is requirement number one: You must be able to change it sufficiently for it not to look like the default theme.

The theme should come with a set number of pre-defined layouts using accepted CSS techniques. These themes don’t need to be amazing, just variable enough to allow individuality.

This shouldn’t be too difficult.

Minimal processing

Speed should be a priority. This is going to be the storefront for WordPress so it needs to be as fast as possible while achieving the aims. This means as little extra processing as possible.

I have no problem with extra content and layout processing, my own theme features it up the wazoo, but the default needs to make WordPress shine so the less that can go into functions.php the better, and the more files that can be changed once and cached till the next change the better.

Simple HTML

This is the theme that people will learn from. The HTML should be clean, straightforward, and semantic. The HTML should not rely on any processing as this will make it harder to follow.

If at all possible the html should be a container for the standard theme tags. This means not using PHP for classes or IDs unless it is absolutely necessary.

Fully configurable

There should be no changes necessary that cannot be accomplished through the admin panel. Inevitably there will be some that cannot be forseen or are edge cases, but in general, the aim should be that the underlying HTML and CSS is never touched.

We need widgetised sidebars that collapse if there are no widgets included, on both the left and right of the content. We need menus that appear only when there are links in appropriate bookmark / blogroll categories. We need colour changes, transparent gradient overlays, alterable header images and admin pages to change typefaces, colours, line-heights etc. All thing that are relatively easy to achieve, with a little work.

Ian has suggested The Sandbox. He has hopes of CSS only themes, I personally don’t agree; The Sandbox theme doesn’t meet my requirements.

The Idea of one underlying HTML structure to rule them all is not a bad idea, but I don’t think it is appropriate for the default theme. It isn’t something that I would ever use, or design for, because I see HTML as part of the art.

When it comes to HTML, less is more. I think a default theme should follow best practice, because we need to instill best practice in the next generation of themers who are only now starting to learn.

Ian’s suggestion, while interesting, seems to be a suggestion for a replacement theme system as much as a default theme. WordPress has a theme system, a good and flexible one, and I think it would be wise to avoid creating a two tiered theme system by default.

The default needs to be written specifically for that purpose. It should feature a finite set of requirements to do the job that the default needs to do. It should not try to compete for any other position and should not aim to be the theme to end all themes.