Osmium WordPress Theme

A free block theme for writers and independent publishers. Give your articles room to breathe, with a whole site you can edit in WordPress.

Free to download. No account or email required.

Download Osmium Free View the Live Demo Explore the Styles

Version 0.3.0 · WordPress 7.0+ · PHP 7.4+

Osmium's Editorial homepage with a lead story, supporting articles and a newsletter section
The Osmium homepage arranged for a phone screen
122 Patterns
Ready in the block inserter
6 Styles
Including three dark styles
22 Templates
From your homepage to your articles
100% Free
GPL licensed, for any number of sites

Made for Long Reads

A good article shouldn’t stretch from one edge of the screen to the other. Osmium gives your paragraphs a comfortable reading column while letting images and tables use more of the page.

  • A 42rem reading column in the default Editorial style.
  • Wide and full-width blocks for images and comparisons.
  • An optional sidebar for the articles that need one.

Your content sets the pace. The layout gives it space.

Osmium's reading column with serif headings, body text and a review verdict
Article typography and a verdict pattern, shown with demo content.

Find Your Style

Start with Editorial, or choose a different look in the Site Editor. Each style changes the palette and typography while keeping your content editable.

Editorial: a white canvas, teal accents and serif headings
EditorialThe default for a publication
Paper: a warm cream canvas, terracotta accents and serif text
PaperWarm, with serif reading text
Signal: a cool white canvas, blue accents and sans-serif headings
SignalA clear look for review sites
Midnight: a near-black canvas with light text and teal accents
MidnightEditorial, after dark
Osmium's review kit with a verdict, pros and cons and a specification table
Give readers the verdict and the details behind it.

A Review Kit, Included

Review sites need more than a heading and a buy button. These 7 patterns give your recommendation a useful structure, from the first verdict to the final comparison.

  • Review verdict
  • Pros and cons
  • Specification table
  • Comparison table
  • Best-for cards
  • Product call to action
  • Deal strip

Every pattern uses WordPress core blocks. Your inserted content remains editable if you change themes, though its styling will follow the new theme.

Edit the Whole Site

Change your header and footer in the Site Editor. Start new pages with the included patterns, without adding a page builder.

Keep Fonts on Your Site

Valley Sans and Hedvig Letters Serif are bundled with the theme. The default fonts load from your domain.

Start with Less Code

Osmium ships about 8 KB of theme CSS and no JavaScript of its own. WordPress blocks and plugins may still load scripts.

Make It Your Own

  1. Download the theme

    Get the release ZIP directly from GitHub. There’s no checkout or signup.

  2. Install it in WordPress

    Go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme. Choose the ZIP, then install it.

  3. Choose your starting point

    Activate Osmium on a staging site first. Open Appearance → Editor to choose your style and edit the layout.

Before You Install

Osmium 0.3.0 is an early release. Check your own content and plugins on staging before switching a live site.

  • Requires WordPress 7.0 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer.
  • No custom WooCommerce templates, built-in slider or mega menu.
  • The Front Page template takes precedence over a static homepage. Edit or remove that template in the Site Editor to use your own page.

Newsletters and other form actions need a working form or email service behind the layout.

Give Your Next Article a Home

The complete Osmium theme is free under GPL-2.0-or-later. Download it, make it yours and use it on as many sites as you need.

Download Osmium Free View the Live Demo Explore the Styles

Version 0.3.0 · A direct ZIP download · No account required

Source code and issue tracker on GitHub