# Sam's Simple Theme **URL:** \ **Category:** Theme\ **Tags:** official, sams-simple-theme\ **Created:** [December 31, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sams-simple-theme/23552 "2014-12-31T03:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sams-simple-theme/23552/1 "2014-12-30T01:40:14Z")
| | | | | --- | --- | --- | | :discourse2: | **Summary** | **Sam’s Simple Theme** creates a “minimal” topic list design | | 👓 | **Preview** | [Preview on Discourse Theme Creator](https://discourse.theme-creator.io/theme/Discourse/sams-simple-theme) | | 🛠 | **Repository Link** | [https://github.com/discourse/discourse-simple-theme](https://github.com/discourse/discourse-simple-theme) | | 📖 | **New to Discourse Themes?** | [Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/beginners-guide-to-using-discourse-themes/91966) | Install this theme > [@](#): > > :discourse2: As this is an #official theme maintained by the Discourse team, #Support issues, #Contribute > Bug reports, #Contribute > UX suggestions, and requests for #Development advice can be made in the respective categories here on Meta, and tagged with the appropriate theme tag. Click on a link below to get one started. 👍 > > [❓  **Support**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=6&tags=sams-simple-theme "Ask for support on configuring and using Sam's Simple Theme") [🐛  **Bug**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=1&tags=sams-simple-theme "A bug report means something is broken, preventing normal/typical use of the theme") [👀  **UX**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=9&tags=sams-simple-theme "Discussion about the user interface of Sam's SimpleTheme, and how features are presented (including language and UI elements)") [🧑‍🎨  **Dev**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=7&tags=sams-simple-theme "Advice on how to customise this theme for your site") ### Features I have been thinking about this a lot, and decided to take a shot at a “minimal” front page customisation. To select this theme here on Meta head to your profile: [https://meta.discourse.org/my/preferences](https://meta.discourse.org/my/preferences) and select the theme. (remember to click save) ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/d/f/dfd9212dba865fb66fc923bc9b14d7d4141c1961.png) Here is a list of things I did - Remove Views - Remove Star - Get rid of avatar images use names instead - De-emphasize categories - Use more “traditional color” for topic link - Use replies instead of posts Some conclusions from my experiment: - I think “Replies” is much more natural than column name than “Posts”, technically its simply “Posts - 1”, however its a far clearer concept to convey and it _correctly_ calls attention to Topics with only 1 posts, cause 0 is a number that stands out. - Long term I think we should offer a “less loud” category style, the current rainbow of colors puts categories in a far more important bucket than the content, categorization feels secondary to title to me. - I feel the sea of avatars is a bit loud, not recommending changing it right away but I think it does add a lot of busyness to our front page - For me the more traditional topic title colors work better, I find they catch the eye and call attention to the title nicely - The simplified design is definitely a lot more “boring”, but I find working through very long lists easier with it. - I am really not sure about zebra striping anymore, I think its actually causing more harm than good, the subtle line works way better in my simplified design - Star should go, its just adding noise for almost no gain - I am not going to get into an “ago” argument again, but for the simplified design I would have preferred “1 hour ago” as opposed to “1h” the extra verbiage would have added clarity and there is room above the name. I don’t think the “simple design” is **better** than our current design, I just think it is different, and perhaps more familiar to existing forum users. It packs less information. Interestingly the “simple design” does not work at all any wider than 850px or so, which calls out to a need for some sort of auxiliary column to complement it (with faq or shoutbox or ads or whatever). A very cool thing is that this is all achieved using the customize menu. ### PRE-REQ Select category style bullet in site settings. ### Settings | Translation | Default | | --- | --- | | replies | Replies | | last\_post | Last Post | | likes | Likes | > :discourse2: **Hosted by us?** Themes are available to use on our Standard, Business, and Enterprise plans. > Last edited by @JammyDodger 2024-06-17T13:37:19Z > > > **Check document** > > > > Perform check on document: --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/sams-simple-theme/23552)._