New Themes: Minnow and Cols
Minnow is a light, simple theme that puts your social presence front and center, while Cols is a novel theme that lets you tell your stories without the layout getting in the way.
We’re happy to introduce two brand new free themes today!
Minnow
Designed by Mel Choyce, Minnow is a light, simple theme that puts your social presence front and center. A social links menu is displayed prominently below the site title and logo, so readers can easily find you on your favorite social networks.
When activated, the optional Custom Menu or Widget area appear in a slide-out sidebar, making secondary content accessible while keeping the focus on your content.
Learn more about the free Minnow theme at the Theme Showcase, or preview it by going to Appearance → Themes.
Cols
This theme is designed by yours truly: Cols is a novel theme that lets you tell your stories without the layout getting in the way.
Standard-format posts are displayed in a newspaper-like layout, with three columns on large monitors, two columns on medium-sized displays, and a one-column layout on small screens like phones. Other supported post formats — Aside, Image, Video, Quote, Link, and Chat — are displayed in a simple single-column layout.
Learn more about the free Cols theme at the Theme Showcase, or preview it by going to Appearance → Themes.
WordPress.com News 
While I don’t think either of these themes are right for me, I do like their simple and clean look, especially with Minnow. Nice additions! 🙂
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Nice.
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Minnow without header is like car without wheels…
Cols is hard to read and doesen’t support Gallery post format
All new themes are with important missing functions. Probably to sell premium themes. Instead of 300 buggy free themes made 1-2 but perfect with all functions – all post formats, flexible header, colors and so on…
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Thanks for another two free themes. We now have plenty to choose from. 🙂
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Cols is the ideal theme for longform posts. Since I write both short and long texts, but mainly short ones (that look unsightly in a multi-column layout), it would be nice to have two types of standard formats: single-column and multi-column. However, a great theme!
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Cols works extremely well with longterm articles but can get a bit messy when it comes to multiple gallery posts. Nice work!
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Long form*
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These look great. However, I wonder if there will be any more Halloween themed sites coming up soon?
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We don’t have plans for a new Halloween theme this year, but Monster is ready for a good scare: http://wordpress.com/themes/monster/
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How do I change the theme I am currently using?
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Howdy! You can do this by going to Appearance → Themes in your Dashboard.
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Both are good. But, Minnow is kind of awesome.
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Enjoying all the new themes, but still have not had time to work on WordPress.
Thank you for all your posts.
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I like that theme with the social media at the top of the page… May use it for my next post
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I love Minnow and may just use it for my blog that’s launching soon. Was wondering though why it doesn’t support custom headers. Also, I can upload my own logo in PNG, right?
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Howdy! The site logo effectively serves the same purpose as a Custom Header for Minnow. You can absolutely add PNG logos. 🙂
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Yes! That’s good news. Thanks, Caroline. 🙂
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Wish Minnow had a full-screen sliding menu like Celsius. It looks really nice otherwise.
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Thank you for Minnow, another new theme. This is wonderful. Where do you find the time?
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I love their simplicity! 😀 Maybe one of these I can use someday.
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Please making themes like this for writing I seriously want to glomp you all now 😉 Can you make themes like the old Vigilance but like free like with serif fonts in nice clean crisp size and savviness and well also make it free? Maybe I am asking alot but I love your free themes and the nice elegance some of them has.
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I’m now using Minnow… But how do I get those social media buttons on the front of my page?
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When will we start to see more WordAds themes? Please…
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Minow is just great and I think is the best new theme for longform posts.
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I think Cols would work for what we have in mind – a short story website – anyone suggest any other themes. All the themes look great but I am learning that some are more compatible with certain types of site.
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I’m using Minnow, it’s a beautiful theme. I just didn’t get it where do I setup the social buttons under the title. Can you tell me?
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Sure! You can find the instructions for setting up a social links menu here: https://wordpress.com/support/menus/social-links-menu/
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WordPress, I am in love with you!
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I switched over to Minnow this morning and am digging it. Feels/looks a lot better than my previous theme. Awesome work, Mel Choyce!
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I love the Minnow theme, it feels very clean and fits me perfectly.
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