We’re happy to announce the launch of our first new theme this year: Grid Focus, by Derek Punsalan.
It’s a clean and simple three-column theme with a couple of special features you’ll dig:
- Two widget areas. Widgets on Grid Focus can be placed in two sidebars.
- Front page icon synced with your blavatar. The blue icon that appears on the front page of Grid Focus by default will change to your blavatar if you’ve uploaded one.
Enjoy!
WordPress.com News 
Cool! Thanks for that. I’m crossing my fingers for more themes this year for us wordpres.com’ers.
I would love to see AdSense widgets added to the blog templates.
Thanks so much Heather. I found it and now I don’t know how I missed it.
The design of this template is overwhelming and three columns is for newsletters, not blogs. Others might like it, though.
S
This is pretty awesome…I just wish my widgets were working properly.
Please contact Support if you’re having trouble with widgets on your blog.
Thanks!! I can’t wait for more themes. I would love to see a 4 column with a wide center–in dark colors. I am loving all the new features, it’s great!
we need more themes. especially those with custom image header!
Who cares aboat the grid focus?
Heather is hot!
I love heather.
Addicted…to wordpress themes…love new ones!
I love it! I just wish I could move my widgets to the far right column from their default positions in the left widget column.
Good with more themes to choose between. This one fits some and really don’t fit others! But it could be hard to see if one theme matches your blog by just looking at the small picture, you have to try it out! I really like my theme and I did not see that it was going to be this good looking until I actually tried it!
It’s nice. I like it ‘coz it’s simple and clean. However, it doesn’t have options to customize your header. I am not too keen on having a three-column theme as well.
Dats prity awesome!keep up the good work..
NIce theme, but think we miss a lot more choices of themes at WordPress.com, i’d like to have more photography themes. THanks
It is nice enough, clean and all. And I appreciate that the font is large enough for me to read without zooming, I really do appreciate that. So, thanks, but can we have more custom headers?
Oh! I’m waiting. I have many photos to manage. I will create photos albums.Thank you very much!
🙂
Nice theme…. any magazine layout themes planned for 2009?
Thanks for the suggestion. Keep an eye out on the news blog for theme updates 🙂
I’m currently using this theme. My only feedback besides the great minimalist layout is the placement of the comments icon and element. Think it’s getting overlooked.
I like the theme.. thanks a lot
Starting with the news themes, good!!!
@noel jackson:
Really? Because i have been searching 4ever how to make a gallery…
Can you tell me (in short) how to?
Or maybe i read how to do this?
Check out this screencast on galleries.
Thanks for the work you and everyone at wordpress do– it is an amazing service/resource.
looking good, thanks.. i’m waiting for another future themes launches..
this looks so nice.can i get it now?
Yep! It’s in your dashboard under Appearance > Themes.
It’s nice to look at but the text size is so small and it’s really hard to click on the comments because you’re only aiming for one digit.
I changed over to Grid Focus last night and absolutely love it, a classic and classy theme for journalists.
Looks great, due to it’s clearness. It is classic but in a way new- fashioned and a little unusual with those three columns. I’ll try it out…
gracias
Is there an option to make it a 2-column?
Sorry, but no. If you’d like to see all available two-column themes, select that option from the dropdown under Appearance > Themes.
Absolutely love it. I’ve converted 3 of my blogs to this new theme. I really like it. Thanks so much.
thanks for informations
Great! We’re on a roll! I’d like to see alot more themes this year than we saw last year. I know some people like to keep the same theme, but I like to keep my readers interested, by updating my theme every couple of months, it’s just like revamping………..
Please keep the themes coming! Thanks WordPress for your continued efforts in making this place feel like home! 🙂 x
nice one..
simple & sweet..
Clean and simple. Nice. Thank you.
wordpress needs a “daily” blog archive, widget 🙂
i think this would be great!
Nice theme! Looking for more theme! 😉
I agree about the adsense widgets, it would be nice if the themes could allow it. And what about more colourful and creative blogs – all these themes look too professional and organised.
Love the appearance of this theme, but the widget menu doesn’t allow me to add the same widgets in the two alternate primary sidebars (the “Add” link disappears after using it once).
And another thing: What is the idea behind italicizing blockquotes? Merely aesthetic? But emphasis in quotes disappear! This is a major issue I have with lot of WP themes. It severely limits the number of themes I can use.
Some widgets can only be used once. It depends on the widget.
Each theme at WordPress.com is a bit different. The italicized block quotes in Grid Focus are a design decision. You could try using bold to add emphasis, or you could use the paid upgrade for Custom CSS to modify the block quote design for your blog.
thanks so much
Whats the deal with the Thumbnails on the front? I neeeed morrrreeee info 🙂
Those were made using the gallery feature. Check it out.
Yeah Its nice. I like it because Its nice and clean. I have another reason for this.
My reason is that its in a grid format. Grids help keep your things organized and
its easy to set up,its all right there in front of you. Thanks much, im going to go
and give it a try. How about you? 🙂
Coolio!
Here’s to Grid Focus and Derek Punsalan and having more new themes to choose from on WordPress.COM!
Don’t like it very much, I still prefer Albeo and Misty Look.
Wish more themes had contact sites to include…
Cool design!! Thanks Heather!
Simplistic is always better for web design, so this is a good theme in my book.
I’m currently using this theme now for a group blog. Is there a way to request that there be an ‘author’ link be added to each blog entry? Without this, it is very hard to identify the blogger.
That option is a feature of some themes, but not all. I suggest browsing through the options under Appearance > Themes in your dashboard to find one that suits your needs 🙂
Yeah its cool. I like that its nice and clean. I have another reason why the grid is nice.
It is nice because its a grid format , it keeps everything organized and that its in
colums.Thats a good way to keep things organized. It looks really simple for me.
I’ll go and check it out later. Thanks heather thats a great idea that you gave to me.
Don’t thank me, thank Derek, the designer 🙂
It Looks Amazing! I Can’t Wait To See Some More Themes!
~PiplupU
Wow nice! I found it to be a really neat design, simple but great. 🙂
Is it just my PC, or do the emoticons (if you’ve got them enabled) have little squares around them on this theme?
I have removed the borders from emoticons in Grid Focus.
Thank You =] blogs already look so clean and nice, now it gets better 🙂
Cool Theme, but It’s Just not my type..
I’ll surely stick with Albeo..
Hmm.. Why wouldn’t WordPress allow JavaScript?
Security Reasons..?
Mm.. Could you fix it somehow.. I really need JS for My Blog..
Anyway, Thanx a lot for the new theme.. 🙂
Users are not allowed to post JavaScript on WordPress.com blog because Javascript can be used for malicious purposes. Your code and intentions may be perfectly harmless, but the security of all WordPress.com blogs is a top priority and until we can guarantee scripting languages will not be harmful they will not be permitted.
I’m 99.99% sure I posted a comment inhere yesterday . .Anyhow, great looking theme, only hold up for me is a custom header . . . is that possible through CSS upgrade, or can the designer do that on request?
This theme doesn’t have a custom header option. You can view all themes with custom headers by selecting that filter from the dropdown under Appearance > Themes.
nice job! grid focus has always been one to the best white magazine style themes. I am addicted to simplicity of prologue so cant switch to Grid Focus
It’s environment-conscious. I like it!
A 3-column design and it would be perfect.
Next, I like it minimalist – in the sense that it can display as many titles as possible and their excerpts.
its ok , i personally like a two columns theme , but still it is good
i love large themes. So very nice theme for me
It’s a pretty good theme!
It’s nice but… i think is EXTREMELY important to be have a Custom Image in the header..
…
Otherwise all the blogs are without a personal soul… an identification brand, etc etc…
..
Can we see this “mod” in the next release??
..
Good luck! Bye!
Grid Focus is a clean, simple design. Instead of a a large full-width custom header, you can customize the top right image using the blog picture (or blavatar) from your settings page. We hear ya about custom header images. We will keep that in mind as we add new themes.
Vow a Great Theme. Trying on my blog now 😉
i like a lot of aspects, the theme offers.. but i want it in black with header 🙂
Good start for 09 themes though waiting for more sensible themes…what? just saying
nice theme, i love grid style or magazine style… i’ve use this them for my football blog: catatanbola.wordpress.com
can’t wait for another grid style theme…
powerful word-centric design… beautiful theme!
This grid I need and looking for long time.
Thanks, great job.
Hello guys, I am a now a Grid Focus theme happy camper.
Not just any other blog theme – it’s my wordpress theme! I love it! YEEHAAA ! ! !
I have been contemplating a change of themes for both my personal and business Blogs.
But, I have also been wondering what some of the mystical science around SEO entails, and why certain Blogs attract so much attention. I get a lot of hits. But, why is this particular Blog entry getting so much attention?
Heather, I like and appreciate this new theme – but, why is this particular entry so “hawt”?
Brian
we think… grid it’s the next www
w the cluoudworker & prosumerworker
great theme! well done!
I like the theme very much . . . magazine like blog 😀
i use for my blog
many thks
This is pretty sweet!
it looks very cool!
I’m looking forward to seeing what new themes will come out this year. It seems like most of the themes that I prefer [artsy ones like desk mess and notebook chaos] are all infected with bugs. I hope to find one that suits my preferences as well as functions properly.
Jordan.
Variety is the spice of life! Thanks *always* for adding new themes.
That’s nice – clean and simple!
Off to a good start with this new theme!
I can’t wait to see some more- maybe more themes with custom colours, customizable headers and more columns (I can’t stand empty space!!! haha)
Terima kasih …..sekarang saya sudah menggunakannya di Blog saya yang lain http://bambangswj.wordpress.com
Thank’s for the information
Grid focus doesn’t fit my category names, they are too long for this theme, and you can’t use it if you have many categories
😦 -but the design is very good
Gird focus should work with your category names. Use the contact support form to let us know if you are still having trouble with Grid Focus on your blog.
I wonder if you could consider a theme for the poor us who use wordpress to “publish” our novels. Something with a custom header or maybe a widget that would place the permalinks of each chapter in the sidebar, just creating an automatic “Table of Contents” Right now I have to do it by hand and it’s a bit time consuming.
Feedback noted. We are working on adding new themes, and we’ll consider at the ‘table of content’s idea.
mmm…nice
I would love to see AdSense widgets added to the blog templates.
when will there be more layout options for photobloggers?
Keep an eye out on the new blog for theme updates 🙂
more!
PLEASE, PLEASE…add more themes. Easy ones that we don’t need to change so much for those of us who don’t/ can’t do that sort of thing.
No more blue themes…
Thanks.
That’s great!! I just joined wordpress.com 3 days ago and am already using this theme. GREAT JOB!!
May I suggest to add video comment from 3rd party such as seemic? Reason…. I am deaf and I do make video vlog often also with blogging. There are many deaf that would like to leave comment but only using video comment.
I beg you.
Thanks
hoooo, interesting..
nice theme 🙂
Fantastic….But will miss the header image…