Free
News
News sites publish more often than any other kind of WordPress site, so the theme has to make recency obvious and load fast on mobile, where most news traffic arrives.
News sites publish more often than any other kind of WordPress site, so the theme has to make recency obvious and load fast on mobile, where most news traffic arrives. A good news theme puts the latest stories at the top, uses a ticker or breaking-news strip for urgent items, shows timestamps clearly, and keeps the homepage light enough that a reader on a slow connection still gets headlines within a second or two. It also needs robust archives, because on a news site the category and tag pages carry as much traffic as the front page.
What to look for
- Latest-first layouts with visible publish and update times, and support for the
dateModifiedthat Google News expects. - Breaking-news ticker or top strip that can be switched on and off without editing code.
- Fast, paginated category archives with a layout separate from the homepage.
- Author and byline support, including author archive pages.
- Ad-ready widget areas and compatibility with common ad plugins.
- Mobile performance: test the theme’s front page on a throttled connection before committing; heavy sliders are the usual problem.
Our news themes
News One is built for this use: a breaking-news ticker, a featured area, category blocks and several sidebar and footer widget positions, all configured from the Customizer. It handles a high post volume without the front page turning into a wall of thumbnails. News One Pro adds more block layouts, header variants, colour schemes and typography settings for publications that want a stronger identity. GlowMag is an alternative if your news site is visual and less dense — regional lifestyle coverage, arts, sport — and prefers a grid over a list.
Free alternatives worth considering
- Newsup — a news-first free theme with ticker, featured sections and a large set of homepage options.
- ColorMag — widely used for news and magazine sites; widgetised homepage and category colour coding.
- MH Magazine Lite — a simple, dependable news layout that has been maintained for many years.
- Kadence — a multipurpose option whose archive and header controls are good enough for a smaller news site.
Free vs Pro
The free News One includes the ticker, category blocks and ad areas most local or niche news sites need. Pro is worth it when you have several editors, want a distinct visual identity, or need more control over how each homepage section behaves. Either way, pair the theme with a caching plugin and image optimisation — the theme alone does not fix slow hosting.
Frequently asked questions
Does News One include a breaking-news ticker?
Yes. The ticker is built in and can be assigned a category, limited to a number of posts, or disabled from the Customizer.
Can I use these themes with Google News or AMP?
The themes output standard article markup with publish and modified dates. AMP is not bundled; use the official AMP plugin if you need it.
What is the difference between the news and magazine categories?
The same themes appear in both. News emphasises recency, tickers and dense archives; magazine emphasises curated category sections and larger imagery.