Theme Thursday: The Journalist
Ok, ok, we hear you: enough of the dark themes already. Here’s one that should help set the universe back into balance: The Journalist by Lucian Marin. It’s a crisp, professional, black-on-white theme designed for serious writers.

The Journalist features a fixed-width, two-column layout, elegant typography for post text and block quotes, and supports widgets in the right-hand sidebar. Look for it on page 4 of your Presentation / Themes tab (under “T” for “The”).

November 22nd, 2007 at 3:34 am
Nice. Crisp. Neat. Wider space for photos. It’s funny how the widgets have “The.” Unfortunately, I find it too plain. Not for me.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:37 am
YES! Finally a theme I can identify with.
Thanks
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 am
Been waiting for this, any chance of doing it w/a header option, and moving the extremely obtrusive tag box to the bottom? Other than that, yahoots all around.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:39 am
flawedplan: we just make the themes available as they’re designed – without a header image in this case. I’m not sure what you mean by the tag box – the dark grey meta box? Only categories are included there, tags are listed underneath each post.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:45 am
Lovely!
I’ll use it soon.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:46 am
But what if Im not a serious writer? Then what… ?
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:53 am
I agree with Frances – it’s crisp and clean, but too plain for me. I would like to see a few more creative themes come out!
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:56 am
Anna: if you have a suggestion for an existing GPL’d WordPress theme that you’d like to see on WordPress.com, please post about it on the forum.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:47 am
Nice! Simple and Professional. I’m using…
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:52 am
Nice work alex, I love the theme a lot.. Thats almost the minimal I wanted for my blog.
Thanks.. Keep up the good work
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:53 am
Brilliant theme, tried it out and I love it.
Switched to it, now if just someone can tell me how to make the text of all my posts justified?
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:01 am
Love it! I can even do without the header. But I can’t do without the tagline. Any chance on getting that coded in?
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:02 am
vjp: again, this is the theme as it was designed. There’s no obvious place in the design to put a tagline. I’d suggest adding a text widget to the top of the sidebar instead.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:10 am
good one .. i love the white space !!!
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:40 am
W0owww…Cool….
it look simple, nice work!
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:50 am
Less is more. I love this one. Thanks.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:09 am
Alex – that’s exactly what I ended up doing
By the way – there is an extra word in the date format line. It shows “on the November 21st, 2007″ – the word “the” shouldn’t be there.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:21 am
Me too! I *am* a serious–although sometimes flippant–writer, and I like the minimalist but professional look of this. I’m off to play with my widgets. Thanks Alex & Lucien
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:47 am
That’s hot.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:07 am
Yes, yes, yes! Almost perfect! I`m using it right away.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:41 am
This is neat. Journal/Magazine-looking theme is the “in” these days. Minimalist and easy on the eye.
The previous and this current are two the best so far.
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:16 am
Not for me, who’s a dark themer.
Anyway, ty WP n’ happy thanksgivin’!
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:32 am
Great, one can’t get enough of minimalist themes. More room for one’s own content!! It would be nice to have more customization options and double sidebars though. Still, it’s really great how you guys keep turning out something new!
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:40 am
i prefer the darks like mine !
but this one looks awesome !
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 am
Nice one.. I’ll try it out.
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 am
Preety Nice i can say
Very clean and simple! Give us more cool themes!
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
Hmm, when I open a post, sidebar moves down under the post and coments. Is it supposed to be so?
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
msmarii: please use the contact form or forums to ask for help or report problems.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
nice theme on that day specially
thanks wordpress team.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:45 am
Looks nice.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:52 am
That is very smart and crisp. I use too many images for it to work well for me – but if I give up the images and just write that would be the one for me.
November 22nd, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I like this theme. It’s a great one for blogs that have primarily news and op-ed pieces as content. It’s not for light reading like mine, but if I should want to explore my academic, serious side, I might use it.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I love this theme. I may change over. Can you add a custim header with the CSS upgrade?
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:46 pm
http://flightpath.wordpress.com/ Alex Shiels…I like your present blog with all the nice big images!
something I would like to do and have some links on the side …very good idea…
Susan in italy
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Cat-atsic theme. You guys are just awesome.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
this is EXACTLY what i was looking for in fonts and layout. Thank you wordpress design team!!!
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
have been really diggin re-doable lite and i’ll miss the customizable header but this is really niiiiiiice. Works great for readers. i like black backgrounds but they’re not the best for everybody and this really leaves it all up to the content. thanx az always, you guys (f/m) rock!
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
The new theme has a simple elegance which is very nice. I tip my hat to the development. However, I can not resist to say it seems great effort is always offering ‘journalistic’ formats. From viewing the available themes, the majority principally have white backgrounds, possessing a splash of colour, with a few options with presentation. Yet, there remains a void with dark colored themes (black background), offering three-columns; either two sidebars on the right or one on either side of the text column.
Someone once commented within this forum that black themes are more of a ‘passing fancy’ or some other ill conceived comment. This is not true. There are those in the midst of WP users, who prefer a dark theme (all black), just as a matter of preference!
The theme I currently use ‘ChaoticSoul’ is a great theme for which I’m grateful; it would be better if it had another sidebar.
If there were something which had the ‘glass appearance’ of “Black Letterhead”, with three columns, with a customizable header image, I would dance a jig and drink a tankard of ale. It was suggested to me to offer some recommendations regarding GPL’d Themes, but when I replied with another question on this recommendation it fell on deaf ears.
I guess we will continue the wait. Waiting… Waiting… Waiting…
Regards!
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
well, that so simple.. so plain.. but i think that’s good
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I like it alot. Just need a good reason to use it on myself.
Thanks WP!
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I LOVE IT… BUT… I NEED A SIDEBAR FOR MY PAGES
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Sandra: the theme has a sidebar. If something isn’t working properly, please contact support.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Simply, clean and good looking.
November 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Nice…clean-looking Professional theme this.
And ’twas about time the Light-Theme-Lovers stole a march over the Dark-themers
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:01 pm
What’s black and white and red all over?? The “Journalist.”
Sorry – that was a really bad joke, but I there’s no bourbon for my coffee.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Lovely, I think I’ll give it a go soon.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:23 pm
It’s up on wptheme if anyone wants to check it out quickly:
http://wptheme.wordpress.com/
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
thank you
very nice designing.
I am switching to Journalist theme
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Love this kinda theme la… but…
Can you get something more STYLISH with colors etc?
Love this style for photo blogging though.
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Saya langsung gunakan theme ini begitu saya melihat berita ini di dashboard.
Terima kasih untuk Kang Matt dan konco-konco, semoga semakin hari WP semakin maju dengan gebrakan-gebrakannya.
Salam dari Jogja.
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 pm
só tava faltando ”Imagem de Cabeçalho”
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:11 am
Love this theme
November 23rd, 2007 at 1:39 am
Looks OK but would have benefited from a customisable header. The theme is meant to appeal to would be journalists (maybe) and a more flexible header facility is missing at present from every theme I’ve tried -but highly desireable. ‘Do not underestimate the power of the front page Luke’.
I’ll test run it on my handheld as some themes don’t display well on windows mobile otherwise I will stick with Kubrick a theme I know works well and is reasonably customiseable.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 am
i like it. i was using chaos theory but now im in like with this one.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:28 am
actually i tried it and i dont like it. im back to chaos theory.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
I just noticed something – the left line shown in the photo is not showing up in the theme. An oversight, maybe?
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:37 am
nice clean, crisp….but no excitement….dull.
je3
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:58 am
Why are writer’s always assumed to be “dark and mysterious and dreary?” I’ve been a writer for many many years and am not dark. I do write about emotions, some of which are not always happy, but I also write about the beauty of my life, the laughter and the upside of things. I write for kids, about grace and laughter. I guess what I’m sayin is not all of us are dark, moody and depressing. We aren’t all trying to “find ourselves.” I’ve found myself, it’s just that sometimes I would love to give some of myself back to wherever it came from….maybe the mother ship….just kiddin!!!!!!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:20 am
I would use it if it had a banner. Looks good.
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:16 am
I love this theme. Thanks, WP.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 am
I’ll use it now.
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
I am so ready for it…you know!!!
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:30 am
It is pretty close to what I was looking for. A customizable header would have been nice, of course. And maybe a slightly larger font. I do like the looks of the dark bars across the page.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 am
nice theme. can’t wait for your next one.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
So, engtech, this is your creation? Why am I not surprised? Great work as always.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Wait – it says Lucian Marin designed the theme, so I am assuming engtech organized the sample site for us to view? Correct?
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
It’s very clean, but not for me, I’m too big a fan of color. This would be great for a photoblog though, or very serious blog, but if there’s not a lot of pictures going on I think it would be overwhelming. The site of massive blocks of text, methinks, would turn off a lot of readers. Regardless, it’s a nice addition, I’m all for new themes being added!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Good, moving frm DIGG to this one..
keeps it simple..
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
VERY PROFESSIONAL!!!
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
All and all I like this theme. It has a large blogging space that should please photobloggers. There’s more feedback here http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=18309
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I Am a Journalist This Is Very Fun , Thank You Very Much! I Kiss You
November 24th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Ha ha. Nice theme, but I try to not take myself too seriously as a journalist, so I’ll pass on this one for now…
November 24th, 2007 at 1:58 am
I wish I can change the Header.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:25 am
I actually do not have an issue with the um, whats it called “theme” that I am using . I will check that one out later this month, God Willing. Very nice though, very sophisticated and classy. Nice
November 24th, 2007 at 4:50 am
the theme’s nice….good work =)
November 24th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Hmm… clean and simple.
I like it.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Reminds newspaper style
November 24th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I always like the theme with minimalist, white and systematic pages. It’s good for reader and myself. Thanks for WordPress from Indonesian blogger using WP.
It’s amazing in my point of view that some Indonesian blogger give quick response (change their theme and write comments here) to this newest theme. I think this kind of theme is suitable with low-speed bandtwith.
Cool! I will use it for couple of day and back to White as Milk.
November 24th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Transparent and pleasing to the eye. Applause.
November 25th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Three columns would make it better!
November 25th, 2007 at 9:19 am
It’s an elegant theme. I would have used it but it can’t seem to accommodate pages which is a pity
November 25th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Eliza D: all of our themes work with pages, The Journalist included. Don’t forget to include a Pages widget in your sidebar if you haven’t already.
November 25th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Thanks a lot Mr. Alex
nice theme…perfect for serious writer
November 25th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
This is a very nice app for photobloggers, like me! Thanks for the space and simplicity!
November 26th, 2007 at 3:07 am
Nice theme better than some of the others.
November 26th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Looks impressive, clean and simple, but black on white just isn’t for me. Make your next featured theme a colorful one!
November 26th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Manna from the heavens! This theme is perfectly suited for me. I will in fact use it the rest of my life.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:00 am
That’s not a theme (design)!
It is text on white background.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:11 am
welldone thats great theme