Coraline: The WordPress Theme

CoralineCoraline is the story of a girl who finds herself in a different reality. I like the original Neil Gaiman novel, and the movie (and this photo, by origami_potato, of a Coraline doll).

Another Coraline story concerns WordPress.com users who find themselves with a different theme. Coraline is a new theme at WordPress.com, where it has replaced Cutline. I think that this is the first time that WordPress.com has removed a theme and switched all sites from that theme to another, without prior warning.

Is it surprising that this particular theme – Cutline – has been retired from WordPress.com? Yes and no. Yes, since Cutline was one of the most popular themes at WordPress.com. No, given the recent controversy involving Cutline designer Chris Pearson.

I’m not the only person who thought that Cutline might have been retired because of its designer. This thought is expressed in one of the many forum threads protesting the abrupt replacement of Cutline with Coraline. Other such posts include: YOU changed my theme without my knowledge; Cutline is Gone!?@(!(!(; WordPress deleted my theme w/out notification.

I note that there is another popular WordPress.com theme designed by Chris Pearson: PressRow. If I were using PressRow at WordPress.com, I’d be wondering how much longer I’d have it for, and what might replace it.

24 thoughts on “Coraline: The WordPress Theme”

  1. I am one of these people who is outraged at WordPress just going ahead and replacing my carefully chosen tuned and adjusted theme for a vastly inferior one. I am definitely going to switch to a different blog provider. My blog is mission critical – it’s what I do.

    1. Michael,
      Thanks for your comment. It is the first “the Coraline switch will make me leave wp.com” remark I have seen (although I haven’t been scouring the blogosphere for such remarks).

      1. Oh, there’s no doubt. I am scouring the ‘web for good recommendations as we speak.

        You see, my blog is what I do for a living. Having it changed for the worse with no discussion by a bunch of californian teenagers (who are offsite for a week) is a rude wake-up call that this is totally unacceptable.

        So now I need to find a host. And one who can offer cutline, and more, who can transfer my blog ( a lot of IP in its 1,000 posts). Including the 1000+ photos. No idea how to even start with that.

      2. I am half way through setting up my own.

        Bye bye, WordPress. Customer loyalty is ephemeral. Mess with your users in such an unthoughful and dare I say it, incompetent way, and we’re outtahere.

  2. I am pissed that Cutline is gone. My next choice was Press Row… I don’t want to switch it to that just to have it snatched out from underme… I thought WP folks were supposed to be cool, less militaristic… WTF?

    1. Yes, PressRow is the worst choice of WP.com theme for those who miss their Cutline. I fear that some will go that way, though, since PressRow is similar in style, as well as in popularity, to Cutline.

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