In deciding on a CMS, the availability of ready to use themes is an important factor for lots potential users that don't have the time or skills to create their own. One of my own concerns about Backdrop CMS when I first got involved in the community was the limited number of ready to use themes for folks just looking to build a personal website. However, over the last two years the situation has improved a great deal with a number of really nice new themes and more on the way.
Here is a quick run down of the top 10 themes, in terms of usage, for Backdrop CMS as of November of 2021.
But before we get started, let's clarify a few things.
1) Many of the themes mentioned provide support for the color module. The color module is included in Backdrop core and enabled by default. Any theme with color module support will allow site editors to make changes to the color scheme through the settings page for that specific theme. Some, but not all of these themes provide support for the color module (another post on how the color module works).
2) The screenshots and video (coming soon) are all original and based upon a demo site with sample content generated by a the Sample Animal Content module and some Backdrop CMS recipes (see config recipe video) that are available on BackdropCMS.org. For more information, see our video on Sample Content.
#1 Bootstrap Lite
More info: https://backdropcms.org/project/bootstrap_lite
Features / Settings:
- Bootstrap Library
- 17 Bootswatch 'themes' (or skins)
- Setting for sticky navigation bar
- Settings for Breadcrumbs
Description:
In the Drupal world the top themes are mostly starter themes designed to provide developers with framework on which to build their own custom themes. The Bootstrap Lite theme falls into that category, but could be used on it's own, right out of the box.
It comes with it's own mini-library of 17 Bootswatch 'themes' (or skins). These Bootswatch skins each come with their own color palate and font selection to provide a quick and easy jump start for your site.
The Bootstrap Lite theme appeals to many themers looking to build their own sub-theme, because it comes with the Bootswatch css library. For those looking for a newer version of the Bootstrap library, look up the Bootstrap 5 Lite theme which is still relatively new and very similar to Bootstrap Lite, except that it comes with the more recent Boostrap library.
#2 Corporate Kiss
https://backdropcms.org/project/corporate_kiss
Created and Maintained by:
- Vincent Stemen
Features
- No custom settings
Comments
"It is written with the philosophy of Keep It Simple, Stupid. It's about as light weight as it can get for a theme. It is flexible and fully responsive for all screen sizes."
Corporate Kiss is a clean, simple and business-like theme that may be suitable for many business websites with little to no custom changes.
#3 Lateral
https://backdropcms.org/project/lateral
Created and Maintained by:
- Indigoxela
Features
- Color Module Support
- Choice to put header on left or right side of page
- Limited font choices in user interface
Comments
This is a very eye catching theme that is ready to use right out of the box with very little customization.
#4 Shasetsu
https://backdropcms.org/project/shasetsu
Created and Maintained by:
- Olaf Grabienski
Features
Comments
"Shasetsu (Japanese for "Editorial") is a magazine-like sub-theme of Basis."
This theme claims to work best with the default layouts and the readme file provides some suggestions for how to best configure those layouts. While this theme can be use right out of the box, we think that most people using Shasetsu will mostly likely be making some custom changes to the CSS.
#5 Pelerine
https://backdropcms.org/project/pelerine
Created and Maintained by:
- Indigoxela
Features
- Includes a sub-theme starter kit (in file download)
- 12 eye catching backgrounds
- A place to add your own css right in the theme settings page
Comments
"Dress up your Backdrop website with a fancy cape. Set a strong color statement with one of the included background images or create a custom subtheme."
I was really excited to see the addition of this theme to Backdrop theme space early this year (2021). I think it's a fun theme with some simple ready to use background options that are going to appeal to folks looking for something simple, fun, and colorful. My initial expectation was that Pelerine might be most useful to folks creating a fun personal website or blog. I wasn't sure if it would be a good fit for small businesses or more formal organizations. However, I recently found a Backdrop site in the wild that customized Pelerine with their own Backdrop image to give it a completely different feel. If you would like to try this yourself, I recommend using the sub-theme starter kit that comes packaged with the Pelerine download.
Another reason that you might like Pelerine is the ability to add some css changes as part of the theme setting page. It comes with it's own simple version of CSS injector or CSS Editor.
#6 Colihaut
https://backdropcms.org/project/colihaut
Created and Maintained by:
- Andy Shillingford (docwilmot)
Features
- Color Module support
- Specific support for Nivo Slider module
Comments
"Colihaut is a simple, light, fixed-width theme with color support. When used with the Senjo layout, it has support for a full-width slider banner using Nivo Slider module."
This theme doesn't look too special immediately after installation, but when combined with the recommend layout and slider module it is quickly transformed into a very different and very promising theme.
#7 Cleanish
https://backdropcms.org/project/cleanish
Ported from Drupal 7 and Maintained by:
- Andy Shillingford (docwilmot)
Features
- No config options
Comments
Cleanish is the first of the themes we've reviewed that is a port from a Drupal 7 theme. It is described as "a fixed width (980px) theme. Its very light-weight for fast loading with a modern look."
This was likely one of the very early themes for Backdrop CMS and hasn't been updated since 2015. Personally, I think it's fixed 980px width makes it look a bit dated today. I've also noted a few bugs while testing that are likely the result of the changes to Backdrop CMS over the last 6 years.
For some users, this theme might still be a strong starting point if you are prepared to address some of it's current bugs and customize it to your own liking. However, for most users I think that better options have emerged since this theme was first released.
#8 Lumi
https://backdropcms.org/project/lumi
Created and Maintained by:
- Peter Anderson (BWPanda)
Features
Comments
"Lumi (pronounced 'Loo-me') is a modern, customisable admin theme for Backdrop, now with dark mode!"
This is the only admin theme on the list. Any theme can be used as an admin theme on your site, but most themes don't pay attention to specific layouts and widgets that are used almost exclusively on the admin side of your site, which is why an admin theme can be really important. If you spend a lot of time administering your content, you might not be satisfied with Seven - the default admin theme for Backdrop and Lumi is something that you might want to try.
#9 Tatsu
https://backdropcms.org/project/tatsu
Created and Maintained by:
- Tim Erickson (stpaultim)
Features
- Color Module Support
- The 1.x-2.x branch contains user interface for adding some custom css (thanks to Indigoxela and Pelerine theme)
- Bootstrap css and js libraries
Comments
This is my own first attempt at a contrib theme.
The current version is a sub-theme of Basis, but the development branch breaks ties with Basis and will become it's own stand alone theme. On the surface it looks exactly like Basis, but it contains fixes for a number of irksome bugs that the Backdrop community hasn't been able to fix in Basis.
It was intended to be a better starting point for folks that are generally happy with Basis, but looking for a number of minor improvements. There were plans for things like a sub-theme starter kit (which may no longer be necessary) and a SASS starter kit. Unfortunately, those features have not materialized as I've become distracted with work on other contrib themes and modules.
NOTE: The code/css is a bit clunky and I've love help making Tatsu into a much better version of itself.
#10 Materialize
https://backdropcms.org/project/materialize
Created and Maintained by:
- Biolithic
Biolithic did a lot of great work in the early days of Backdrop and really helped create many of the early Backdrop contrib themes, but is no longer active in the community. Some of these early themes could use some love and attention and are looking for maintainers.
Features
- Lots of documention on how to use it.
- Lots of UI settings that we haven't tried.
Comments
From the project page - "Materialize is a "pretty" theme and something nice for websites out of the box. It has a lot of "bells and whistles" and is not a "lightweight, basic standard theme"."
It's name comes from the Materialize CSS framework, which is in turn based upon the Google Material Design scheme.
However, this theme has not been updated since June of 2016 and doesn't look very good immediately after installation. Our screenshot doesn't look very inviting, but was taken immediately after enabling the module without any custom configuration. With all of the configuration available, this MIGHT be a very powerful theme. This is the ONLY theme on our list that comes with a sub-theme starter kit that includes SASS and support for Grunt.
Maybe someone watching this would like to take over the Materialize theme and give it the love and attention it deserves.
Two Bonus Themes:
Snazzy
https://backdropcms.org/project/snazzy
Created and Maintained by:
- Indigoxela
Features
- Color Module Support
- Ability to turn on/off Front Page Header Split
Comments:
Adding this to the list, because it is right on the edge and was in the top 10 as recently as 2 weeks ago and likely will be again. The statistics we are using are somewhat more volatile than we would like.
This is another original creation of Indigoxela, who has brought us some of the most unique and eye catching themes on this list.
Axioma
More info: https://backdropcms.org/project/axioma
Created and Maintained by:
- Pavel
Features
- Color Module Support
- Menu block alignment
- Sticky menu option
- Hide hero block art option
- Use lighter font option
Comments
Adding this one, because it's very new and gaining users quickly. I'm sure this one will be on the top 10 list within a few months. It is a simple and elegant design that I think will be very useful to users looking for something quick and easy.
This was just released on November 9th, 2021 and only two weeks later is registered as being installed on 11 sites.
Excellent work Pavel, and thanks for this contribution to the Backdrop contrib space.
Some final notes:
- To browse through all the available themes, visit BackdropCMS.org.
- As you try out and use these themes, please visit their respective issue queues and report bugs or leave some words of encouragement for their maintainers.
- We have some themes in the Backdrop contrib space that very much need maintainers. Leave a note in this issue queue if you are interested and willing to become a maintainer and put some work into an existing theme or would like to help build a new contrib theme.
- Most of these themes can be used right out of the box. However, some of them expect or require some custom changes. The best way to modify any theme found in Backdrop core or contrib is to create a sub-theme and place your custom changes in the new sub-theme.
- Two of the themes mentioned, come with sub-theme starter kits, for the rest we recommend using the Devel Subthemer module to help you get started. This module generates all the files you will need for your sub-theme with the push of a button inside your website user interface.
- If you are only making a few minor changes, modules such as CSS Injector or CSS Editor allow you to add css through the Backdrop CMS user interface without touching the underlying theme files.
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