New Theme: Coraline
I’m really excited about today’s new theme, Coraline. It’s a familiar-looking theme packed with upgrades that will make your blog more customizable and more fun.
The Coraline Theme
As you might have guessed, this will be a replacement for the Cutline theme, which we’re phasing out. Since Coraline replaces Cutline this means we get to add some exciting new features that I think you’ll love.
Multiple Layouts
One of my favorite new features in the Coraline theme is the multiple layout options. Visit Appearance → Theme Options and you can select from 1 of 5 layouts. Choose from up to two sidebars—on the right or left—and 3-column layouts—including one with sidebars on both sides.
A 3-column layout with sidebars on either side
Up To 7 Widget Areas
If you need a lot of widgets for your site you’ll really like Coraline. We’ve added four widget areas to the footer and—if you’ve selected a layout with two sidebars next to each other on the right or left—a bonus “Feature” widget area that spans two sidebar columns.
The feature widget area
Alternate Color Schemes
Does your blog need a darker look? Coraline also has an alternate dark color scheme selectable from Appearance → Theme Options.
The alternate dark color scheme
Even More Features
Coraline was based on our latest default theme, Twenty Ten. That means you get even more features built-in; A custom background, custom headers that you can change on any post or page with a Featured Image, special styles for Gallery posts and shorter Aside posts, a Visual Editor that mimics the look of the theme, and customizable drop-down menus.
The Coraline theme is available today in Appearance → Themes and will soon be available in the WordPress Themes Directory, for self-hosted WordPress.org users.
Aug 9th at 3:02 pm
I am switching as soon as I hit “Submit Comment” — thank you!
Aug 9th at 3:06 pm
Liking the flexible options it has.
Aug 9th at 3:06 pm
That’s good looking. I like the dark background.
Aug 9th at 3:08 pm
Beautiful. So clean and I love the multiple layouts.
Aug 9th at 3:09 pm
Attractive looking, especially the dark theme.
Aug 9th at 3:12 pm
You make me want to write even more blogs – so I can use all these lovely themes!
Aug 9th at 3:12 pm
I intend to try this new theme out! Hurray, the Theme Team is back!
Aug 9th at 3:16 pm
Fantastic, especially the dark background! I have one blog on Cutline which I’ll change over in the next few days.
Aug 9th at 3:26 pm
My main blog used Cutline but the instant I saw this, I upgraded. Very awesome, similar but cleaner/smoother.
Aug 9th at 3:30 pm
This is awesome!
Aug 9th at 3:32 pm
Looks fabulous!
Aug 9th at 3:37 pm
Nice! I already use Cutline, but this really does make it even better!
Aug 9th at 3:43 pm
I use Cutline … and I have to say: AMAZING. Switching straight away!
Aug 9th at 3:43 pm
It is good though obviously not better than iNove. I am apparently addicted to iNove!
Aug 9th at 3:43 pm
Awesome. Nice theme. Loved the dark alternate color.
Aug 9th at 3:43 pm
Very nice
Aug 9th at 4:00 pm
Another option – that’s nice!!
Aug 9th at 4:01 pm
I think I might switch (again) to this one! I spotted it earlier today while browsing themes and wondered if it was a newbie – Thanks WordPress!
Aug 9th at 4:12 pm
I’m still sticking with Vostok, though.
Aug 9th at 4:13 pm
This is slick news, Ian, congrats on making this transition to Coraline!
I especially like the — “bonus ‘Feature’ widget area that spans two sidebar columns” — Bravo!
Aug 9th at 4:16 pm
Very nice customization regarding possibility of relocating sidebars. But the font on the tabs is too big – as a consequence my tabs are forming a second line while applying this theme. That is why I will stay with my good old Inove. Maybe the time will come when there will be an optional, VERTICALLY ORDERED dropdown menu available in WordPress.com? Be it or not, you are great. Greetings.
Aug 9th at 4:50 pm
That sounds like a good suggestion for a future theme. Thanks, greglewicki.
Aug 9th at 4:36 pm
VERY sharp lookin’ layout. You’re tempting me to take the plunge from Bueno theme.
Aug 9th at 4:41 pm
This is awesome! I might switch to this when I get tired of Under the Influnce. I love the dark color scheme.
Aug 9th at 4:41 pm
Wowza! i’ve resisted every new theme for the last 6 months-alas i do believe ya finally got me!
Aug 9th at 4:43 pm
I switched to this theme the moment I saw it a couple of days back. It’s gorgeous and clean. Thanks and please do keep introducing more 3 column layouts.
Aug 9th at 4:44 pm
You can do so much with this, thanks!
Aug 9th at 4:44 pm
I like everything except I am so tired of the blue link color – that stops me from using it. I will stick with Koi, modified with my custom headers and background, for the time being. Otherwise, it is a great replacement for Cutline users – nice.
Aug 9th at 4:47 pm
Finally, I’ve been waiting for a nice new 3-column layout! Thanks, Theme Team.
Aug 9th at 4:49 pm
This one is really neat! I might try this one.
Aug 9th at 4:52 pm
Wow, this is definitely an improvement on Cutline. I like it.
Aug 9th at 4:59 pm
I may test it out and see if I like it. I think it looks cool as it is.
Aug 9th at 5:04 pm
Excellent. Nice improvement on Cutline. It’s better for handling blockquotes — the vertical line that Cutline placed in the left margin is gone. Very clean! And you kept the font with serifs. This is great.
Aug 9th at 5:04 pm
I actually saw this theme before there was a blog post on it. I’m very impressed with this new update!
Aug 9th at 5:08 pm
I’m glad to see more and more options available as you roll out new themes. I hope that continues!
Aug 9th at 5:13 pm
Wow, looks great! Almost as good as Vigilance
Aug 9th at 5:21 pm
Sooo gonna use this for my new blog
Aug 9th at 5:31 pm
Very well designed. Thanks.
Aug 9th at 5:33 pm
Beautiful! Definitely going to use it!
Aug 9th at 5:37 pm
This looks excellent. I almost switched to Cutline a couple of weeks ago. Great theme!
Aug 9th at 5:40 pm
Looks nice. I’ll check it as soon as I get some free time!
Aug 9th at 5:43 pm
We can make it black? Yeah! I’m definitely gonna consider this theme for my new blog!
Aug 9th at 5:43 pm
Love the multiple layout option
Aug 9th at 5:54 pm
Can’t wait to play around with Coraline’s features!
Aug 9th at 6:04 pm
Very nice looking and flexible options! Thanks!!!
Aug 9th at 6:04 pm
I don’t see one-column which is advertised but I can’t seem to get to it. Might be the solution for my desire to have maximum width images. Put those widgets somewhere else like the caps lock key.
Aug 9th at 7:06 pm
The one-column layout is available as a custom page template.
Aug 9th at 6:12 pm
Thank you. That is what I want.
Aug 9th at 6:13 pm
Great theme. Very professional and clean. Thinking of an upgrade.
Aug 9th at 6:13 pm
Can you customize the background color?
Aug 9th at 7:08 pm
Yep! Visit Appearance → Background and all the options are there.
Aug 9th at 6:14 pm
Liking it.
Aug 9th at 6:14 pm
I’m definitely naming my next child WORDPRESS HUBBARD!!! I LOVE THIS!!!
Aug 9th at 6:26 pm
Thought it’d have something to do with the movie Coraline … Still a nice theme though.
Aug 9th at 6:31 pm
I’ve been waiting for weeks for a new theme to be posted and this one sounds very interesting so I’m gonna see how it looks.
Aug 9th at 6:35 pm
The multiple layout option is fantastic. This is an awesome transformation of Cutline. I love Inuit Types theme, but this one will tug at my heart. Great work, Theme Team.
Aug 9th at 6:49 pm
Nice ! but I am addicted to the “under the influence” theme. LOL
Aug 9th at 6:53 pm
Looooooooooooooooooooooove it. And I like the name too.
Aug 9th at 6:54 pm
Absolutely beautiful! And it goes with my name, so of course I’m using it.
Thanks for the hard work!
Aug 9th at 7:08 pm
Oooh, I’ll try to preview how my site looks with it! I like the font used.
Aug 9th at 7:09 pm
Really loving the flexibility and options of Coraline. A keeper for sure!
Aug 9th at 7:11 pm
I love it!
Aug 9th at 7:15 pm
I changed my theme already. I loved Cutline, but it was time for a change. This isn’t dramatically different, so my subscribers will still recognize “me,” but it’s updated and cleaner looking. WIth the added column for widgets, I had to re-load my header image so it filled all three columns, but beyond that it was an easy change. Thanks, WordPress!
Aug 9th at 7:34 pm
This theme by far is one of my favorite themes thank you.
Aug 9th at 7:44 pm
I love it!! You can change the background, the color, the header, everything! You can customize all you want!
Aug 9th at 7:49 pm
This theme looks awesome! Unfoirtunately, the computer I’m on doesn’t have JavaScript, so I can’t change my blog’s theme.
Aug 9th at 8:17 pm
It is such a pleasure to try on every new look that you come up with for us. I love it. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Aug 9th at 8:27 pm
LOVE IT, but I’m going to keep my current theme. I’m just waiting on something purple in the background, LOL. I love purple.
Aug 9th at 8:41 pm
Welcome back Theme Team!
I’m sure this theme will be gracefully accepted by Cutline users. I really appreciate the customization that you put on the new themes. Keep them coming, Theme Team!
Cheers!
Aug 9th at 8:48 pm
Your talent has no borders – very nice
Aug 9th at 8:49 pm
It can still look like Cutline or you can make a totally different layout with all the new options. I like it.
Aug 9th at 8:51 pm
I love it. I activated this new theme pronto but the custom headers I tried didn’t look right and I am still trying to figure out why…..however, the coraline theme is really a good looker. Thanks for a Monday surprise!
Aug 9th at 9:01 pm
Relatively painless update — love the new menu system! The default line height in the tag cloud seems too big, though.
Aug 9th at 9:06 pm
Well, after switching, I just had to have a Coraline themed header as well. Thanks to WP and Neil Gaiman both
Aug 9th at 9:11 pm
A little notice to Cutline users would have been nice before you went ahead and changed my theme behind my back. An email or something. Sorry if I sound frustrated but to come and find out the look and feel has changed is a bit surprising.
Aug 10th at 10:28 pm
Sorry for the frustration and surprise, Byczek. We hope that you’ll find Coraline a good fit your blog.
Aug 9th at 9:36 pm
This is great!
Aug 9th at 9:56 pm
This is my new theme. Thanks!
Aug 9th at 9:56 pm
Wow, nice theme! Why is it called Coraline, by-the-way? Does it have anything to do with the movie or the book? Although I like this theme a lot, I don’t think I’ll replace Motion. Motion is my favorite theme.
Aug 10th at 2:11 am
It’s a friendly play on words. Coraline can mean “like Coral” and Coral is something beautiful that grows on top of what came before it—just what we hope Coraline can be for you.
Aug 9th at 10:31 pm
I use Cutline, and seem to have been changed across to Coraline automatically. Not that I mind, as the new features are very welcome.
Aug 9th at 10:32 pm
Wow, I really like this! I would consider changing to this theme, but it doesn’t allow for the divided banner that Fjord has, which I get such great feedback on
. Maybe yet another option, down the line????
Aug 9th at 10:32 pm
I’ll think about it….worried some things might go crazy like last time…
Aug 9th at 10:32 pm
Really Cool and Great Work – THANK YOU !!!
Aug 9th at 10:57 pm
Wow! This looks good but I’m sticking with mine. I love the widget areas though,
Aug 9th at 11:35 pm
Love this theme! I like the flexibility and options. It gives my blog a clean and professional look. Thank you so much!
Aug 9th at 11:40 pm
Once again … great!
Aug 10th at 12:26 am
I love it. There is one suggestion though. Much better if you you make the tag text smaller. It’s eating up all the space.
Aug 10th at 12:26 am
I am excited too. I hope this theme has no any problem with page break unlike I am having with other theme.
Once this cause no problem, I won’t simply make a switch.
Thank you for the good news!
Aug 10th at 12:33 am
That’s why I’ve chosen WordPress to post my stuff. Great themes. Great features. Great service. All for free. Congratulations and keep on going!
Aug 10th at 12:42 am
Cool. I liked it. I would like to try this out on my test blog.
Aug 10th at 12:48 am
This means we get to add some exciting new features that I think i love.
Aug 10th at 2:09 am
This is a very promising theme, one of my candidates for my next theme change on my blog’s 2nd anniversary this November
Aug 10th at 2:15 am
It’s great – I’m using it. Just one suggestion: it would be great if you’d use Arial as a default font for posting — for this theme and / or for more themes. Thanks!
Aug 10th at 2:51 am
It’s a great theme!!!!
Aug 10th at 2:57 am
I’m working on putting together a blog for a student organization I’m a part of and this one looks perfect! Thank you so much for the new theme.
Aug 10th at 3:51 am
Nice, crisp theme! I like having room for more widgets.
Aug 10th at 4:06 am
A nice fresh design.
Aug 10th at 4:33 am
Covers just about everything I can think of, will give it a go I think! Thanks, WordPress team.
Aug 10th at 5:26 am
A crisp theme with many, many options. My site is new and my theme works well enough, but when I am a bit deeper into this, I can see there are possibilities in Coraline I had not yet even considered. Maybe when it’s time to announce an upgrade in about five months…. Thanks for all you do!
Aug 10th at 6:27 am
Traditional blog themes and Photo-blog themes seem to be incredibly popular – and they look great and everything – but I don’t suppose there is a theme in the works tailored completely towards Programmers who want a less, er, “bloggy” way of talking about projects as well as sharing code? The sourcecode tags works only to a certain extent – it is buggy on occasion, especially when going from Visual to HTML and back, and it would be cool to have other “for programmer” blogging tools and theme. I’m thinking less clutter, clean wide area with some sort of built-in “Insert Source Code” buttons?
Aug 10th at 10:30 pm
Thanks for the theme suggestion, Dalin. More themes tailored for programmers and coders sounds like a good idea.
Aug 10th at 6:43 am
Its a good theme but similar to Twenty Ten.. Probably you may get us some thing really different from what is currently available..