Design and themes

Try it on.
Then make it live.

Every PixelGlass site comes with 9 themes, from a newsroom to a portfolio. Pick one and your own site shows in it, page by page, before a single reader sees the change.

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Say it to your agent

Make Press my site's theme, and lead the front page with the newest story.

  • list_themes
  • activate_theme
  • get_theme_settings
  • set_theme_settings

Two ways to do it.

By hand

In the admin

  1. Open Settings › Design. Your site shows in a frame beside the sidebar.
  2. Under Theme, pick a theme. The frame shows your own posts in it.
  3. Move between the kinds of page with the tabs above the frame. Turn on Sample posts to see the theme with fifty posts.
  4. Open Theme settings to fill in the theme's own options, then press Save.
  5. Press Make live under the theme. Readers see it at once.

The Design screen is for the owner and admins.

With your agent

In Claude, ChatGPT or your editor

Which themes can my site wear, and which one is live?

Make Dispatch my site's theme and turn on numbered issues.

Set Press's lead story to the newest post and show reading times.

The tools it calls

  • list_themes
  • activate_theme
  • get_theme_settings
  • set_theme_settings

For example

  • A surf club becomes a newsroom

    A club's site grows from a noticeboard into daily swell reports. The editor tries Press in the frame, sets its sections to the club's tags and makes it live in one press.

  • A coach finds a better fit

    A running coach starts on Pixel, then picks Coach for its Start here path and testimonial slots, and fills them in under Theme settings.

  • A bakery keeps it quiet

    A bakery's newsletter moves to Words for its single column, and the owner checks a post and the home page in the frame before the switch.

Questions, answered

How do I change my theme on PixelGlass?
Open Settings › Design, pick a theme under Theme and look at it in the frame. Then press Make live under it. Readers see the new theme at once.
Which themes come with PixelGlass?
PixelGlass has 9 themes: Pixel, Words, Dispatch, Press, Atlas, Figure, Practice, Coach, and Folio. They are made for newsletters, magazines, single columns, paid newsletters, newsrooms, data stories, consultants, coaches and portfolios.
Can I see a theme on my site before I switch?
Yes. When you pick a theme in Settings › Design, the frame shows your own site in it, page by page. Nothing changes for readers until you press Make live.
Do I lose a theme's settings when I switch away?
No. Each PixelGlass theme keeps its own settings, so a theme you switch back to has them as you left them.
Can my agent change the theme for me?
Yes, when the person who connected it is the owner or an admin. The agent lists the themes with list_themes and switches with activate_theme, only when you say so.

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