I’m mostly a minimalist kinda gal, but when you have a particularly content-heavy website, it’s best to take a page from the online newspapers when it comes to layout choices. These five WordPress themes, for example, are perfect for when you want to show a lot of information at once, without making your head hurt. Also? They’re free.
News CMS
This tops my list, not only for being the cleanest one here, but because it’s beautifully made- and I speak as a WordPress theme designer. You will need to register to download it (registration is free), and it requires some plug-ins (included in the download), but all that’s worth it. It’s a breeze to set up as well, as you can see from the online Read Me.
Download News CMS Theme »
Hamasaki
Here’s another theme that looks like it shouldn’t be free, but is. A smooth grid-based layout with beautiful little touches here and there, Hamasaki is subtle and never detracts from the most important thing- your content. Includes a contact page as well (yay!), theme options, and some nice ad-ready spaces.
Download Hamasaki Theme »
Small Magazine
It’s called Small Magazine, but this theme looks like it could handle even the heaviest content, with its wonderful use of columns and white space. Requires some plug-ins and a bit of customization, but well-documented.
Download Small Magazine Theme »
Rebel Magazine
Another gorgeous one, Rebel features two columns for a more streamlined look, with banner ad-ready spaces and widget support. A little easier to use than the others, I think I like this one precisely because it’s simpler and thus quicker to customize.
Download Rebel Magazine Theme »
The Morning After
This one’s been around for a while, and it’s still one of the best WordPress themes I’ve ever seen- free or “premium”! If you’re running a WordPress-powered news site, you must check out The Morning After: it’s feature-rich, including things like automatic thumbnail generation, and an easy way of doing “featured” items, among others.
Download The Morning After Theme »
What’s your favorite WordPress news-themed theme?
