# Introducing core themes

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-core-themes/374241
**Category:** Announcements
**Created:** [July 15, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-core-themes/374241 "2025-07-15T12:48:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![hugh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/hugh/32/336717_2.png) [@hugh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hugh)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-core-themes/374241/1 "2025-07-15T12:48:37Z")

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We’re excited to announce the launch of **core themes** - a new approach to theming that’s now built directly into Discourse!

## ❔ What are core themes?

Core themes are built-in, non-editable themes that ship with Discourse. They provide a reliable foundation for your site’s appearance and are maintained and updated with each Discourse release. You can’t directly edit or customise a core theme, which means they’ll always work as intended and stay up-to-date.

## 👋 Meet Horizon and Foundation

Our initial core themes are:

- **Horizon:** A modern, vibrant look for your community. Read more in [the recent announcement](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-horizon-our-newest-theme/369608).
- **Foundation:** Similar to what we previously called “Default.” We’ve renamed this to “Foundation” to avoid confusion, as your site’s default can now be any theme you choose. Like all core themes, Foundation is not directly editable.

_Both of these themes are available in all new and existing Discourse sites from today, and will appear in your admin theme library._

> ℹ If you had already customised the “Default” theme in your site, then you will still see it in your dashboard alongside Foundation and Horizon.

## 🎨 Customising your site

There are two ways of customising your site when using a core theme:

**Use theme components**

As always, you can continue to use [theme components](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966#p-446224-theme-components-3) to add customisations and changes to your theme without editing the theme itself. This allows you to provide a consistent experience for your members and maintain granular control over each customisation.

**Create a new theme**

Simply click **Install \>**  **Create New** in the theme section of your admin. This will generate an editable theme that you can customise to your heart’s content, without affecting the core themes.

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Core themes are here to make setup easier and keep your community looking sharp, while still giving you all the flexibility you need for advanced customisation.

_ **👀 Try out Horizon or Foundation today, and let us know what you think!** _

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-core-themes/374241)._