Twenty Ten was our first update to the “default” WordPress theme (the one you see when you start a new blog) on WordPress.com. Twenty Ten is stylish, customizable, simple, and most of all, readable. Since every new WordPress.com user would be seeing Twenty Ten, we wanted to design a great example of what a WordPress theme can do.

Custom Headers

Twenty Ten comes with a selection of great header images. It’s easy to switch between any of the included header images or upload your own. You can even use a different header image for each post by including a Featured Image when you publish a new post. Just make sure the featured image is at least 940px wide — otherwise, Twenty Ten will fall back to the custom header image when the featured image is too small.

Special Styles For Formatted Posts

Twenty Ten includes special styles for multiple Post Formats, including Aside and Gallery. When viewed on an index page (like your home page or a list of posts from a particular month), asides get a simplified look that seamlessly fits between full-length posts, while galleries give a peek at the photos that lie within. Post Formats are designated with an inconspicuous archive link under the post content within the post meta.

Page Templates

By default, Twenty Ten uses a two-column layout with lots of room for widgets. If you’d like to hide the widgets and focus on the writing for a particular page, just choose the “One column, no sidebar” Page Template.

Widgets Galore

Twenty Ten has two sidebar widget areas and four footer widget areas. It’s easy to load up Twenty Ten with lots of widgets without sacrificing your blog’s design.

Beautiful in Print

Everyone has experienced unpleasant surprises when trying to print an article from a web site. Twenty Ten includes special styles for printing, so you’ll get printed copies that are just as easy to read as the original.

Customize

Further customize Twenty Ten with a Custom Menu, Custom Background, and more.