Yes, Twenty Twenty Two will soon be added as a new theme for WordPress 5.9. Once again as the trend continues, WordPress 5.9 will have a brand new default theme that has become a sort of anticipation. It seems like we just talked about Twenty Twenty One!
With the build-up to Full Site Editing (FSE) and Global Styles, themes are going to change even more. The construct and functionality of WordPress themes are progressing to something many of you probably won’t recognize. Actually, you can even include WordPress because it’s becoming a whole different persona from what it used to be.
Twenty Twenty-Two is claimed to have been designed to be the most flexible default theme ever created for WordPress. It’s funny because every time a new default theme comes out, it’s always stated to be the “next new thing”. I certainly hope so!
Twenty Twenty Two is Minimal
The first thing you will notice is that Twenty Twenty-Two is definitely in line with a design that is minimal. As usual, or at least lately, it will include a few colour palettes that you can choose from. I’m not a big fan of predefined colour schemes; I’d rather have the flexibility to change the colour to select elements–virtually creating an unlimited colour palette. This is what our themes here at Rough Pixels does.
Could this be what to expect? An example from a posting (I encourage you to read it) by Kjell Reigstad which introduces everyone to the new upcoming default theme:
Twenty Twenty-Two will take advantage of a wide selection of page templates, headers, footers, and patterns. The idea is to not stick to a small standardization of limited layouts and styles. Having a wider selection of choices is to help give users more options by making their website a more personalized experience.
Full Site Editing
Unlike previous default themes, this one was developed to give you Full Site Editing. I won’t bore you with the technical aspects but think of it as being able to edit things from the front-end of your website. Of course, blocks will be a big part of this theme and your website creation.
Full site editing (FSE) will change the way users design and develop WordPress websites with the use of Blocks. They will no longer be just to create and post content but will be used to edit the whole website. WordPress is moving towards simple themes where blocks are used for global elements — headers, footers, sidebars, widgets, and menus.
This will dramatically change how themes are made. In a nutshell, themes will become primarily CSS (cascading style sheets) and block-based templates.
Who is this Theme For?
Generally speaking, this theme will be for anyone that wants to use it. Once WordPress 5.9 is released (planned) for December 2021, this will be your new default theme.
If you are new to WordPress, Twenty Twenty-Two will more likely be the first theme you try out. I’m not sure how many long-term users of WordPress will jump on board with the new default theme, but we will see. To quote Justin Tadlock from a post he wrote on WPTavern:
Twenty Nineteen, which launched with WordPress 5.0 and its block editor, is the worst-rated (3.5 stars) default theme in history.
Justin Tadlock
It wasn’t overly popular, nor was the Twenty Twenty-One theme, although, Twenty Twenty-One was a bit better received.
Because the Twenty Twenty-Two will be block-based and potentially have front site editing, I am sure theme creators will use it as a foundation to make new themes.
Will I Design a Version of Twenty Twenty-Two?
When Twenty Twenty One came out, I couldn’t help but see an opportunity to redesign it. In fact, I wrote an article about redesigning the Twenty Twenty One theme. This is how our popular theme called Prologe came about! I knew there was potential to put more into the default theme when it was released–so I did it!
I’m not thinking perhaps I should consider designing a Rough Pixels version of the new upcoming Twenty Twenty Two…what do you think?
Looking to The Future
It’s no doubt that WordPress is changing to something completely new and different. First, we were introduced to the Gutenberg Block Editor, Blocks, Block Patterns, and soon to be Front Site Editing!
The question is…will/are you excited?