Epiktetos Theme
WordPress Theme · Documentation Platform · Product Design
A content-first full site editing block theme for blog.mcorucu.com and editorial WordPress sites — readable typography, native WordPress patterns, Article Voiceover, bundled Sample Content, and a calm reader experience.
At a glance
Category
WordPress Theme · Documentation Platform · Product Design
Type
Full Site Editing block theme
Role
Design, theme engineering & documentation
Version
v1.2.2 · Homepage rhythm fix
Requirements
WordPress 6.5+ · PHP 8.0+
License
GPL-2.0-or-later
Overview
Everything an editorial site needs, natively
A complete block theme built on full site editing — no page builder, no external services, no layout engine fighting the editor.
Context
A calm reading theme, not another page builder
Most editorial WordPress themes drift toward heavy page-builder dependencies, decorative effects, and layout systems that fight the block editor. Epiktetos was built to do the opposite: a contemplative, distraction-free theme for essays, journals, and personal publications where typography and reading flow come first.
The goal was a theme that feels native to modern WordPress — built on full site editing, theme.json, and standard block patterns — while staying restrained enough that words can breathe and the page recedes behind the content.
Goal
Native, accessible, and reviewable
Deliver a production-grade block theme that an editor can configure entirely from the WordPress admin, that respects accessibility and performance by default, and that is structured to be reviewable against WordPress.org expectations.
The current v1.2.2 package keeps the Gutenberg-editable Homepage, About, Topics, and Contact architecture, preserves the Latest Articles fixes, and refines the divider spacing before the first category showcase heading.
Role
Design, engineering, and documentation
I owned the project end to end: the design system and typographic scale, the block theme architecture and PHP behavior, the reader experience and admin settings screens, and the documentation platform that presents it all.
That includes the theme.json token system, template and template-part structure, the Appearance > Epiktetos admin screens, and the MDX-driven documentation site published at docs.mcorucu.com.
Approach
Design, development, and documentation
Design approach
A contemplative system: generous white space, a warm neutral stone palette, Libre Baskerville for headlines and Inter for UI, borders instead of shadows, no gradients, and a focused reading measure. Light and dark modes share the same tokens.
Development approach
Native full site editing: theme.json drives colors, typography, and spacing; block templates and template parts define every view; standard WordPress hooks and image functions are used instead of bespoke layout engines or page builders.
Documentation approach
A structured MDX documentation hub on docs.mcorucu.com: versioned releases, a sectioned navigation, product metadata, and dedicated pages for installation, theme structure, theme supports, accessibility, performance, i18n, and review compliance.
Interface
A calm, content-first front page
Features
Built for reading and maintainability
Full site editing structure
Block templates, template parts, theme.json settings, and editor styles cover archive, category, tag, author, search, single post, page, about, and contact views.
Reader-focused single post
Reading time and progress, a table of contents, read-later/saved-route behavior, image zoom, quote copy controls, related articles, and discussion styling.
Editorial homepage sections
Shortcode-rendered hero, latest articles, category showcase, and sidebar sections give publications a curated front page without a page builder.
Bundled Sample Content
Version 1.2.2 keeps the bundled local posts, pages, menus, taxonomies, comments, theme options, featured images, editable Home/About/Topics/Contact pages, and Articles posts-index support while improving homepage section rhythm.
Article Voiceover
Editors can attach an audio narration to a post from the WordPress Media Library; single posts render a calm player with native controls as a fallback.
Token-based dark mode
Dark mode is built on the same theme tokens and respects native preferences, so both modes stay visually consistent and easy to maintain.
Appearance > Epiktetos settings
Admin screens for branding, header, footer, reader, editorial, SEO, sample content, system tools, and theme health let editors configure the site without touching code.
Self-hosted typography
Libre Baskerville and Inter are bundled and self-hosted under the SIL Open Font License, with font CSS loaded locally and no external font requests.
Architecture
Native WordPress, by design
Epiktetos stays inside the structures WordPress already provides, which keeps it predictable, maintainable, and reviewable.
- theme.json drives colors, typography, spacing, and layout settings across the editor and front end.
- Declared theme supports: title-tag, post-thumbnails, responsive-embeds, html5, wp-block-styles, editor-styles, and align-wide.
- Two registered menus — primary and footer — using native WordPress menu management.
- Editor styles enqueue fonts.css, frontend.css, and editor.css so the editor matches the front end.
- No custom post types, custom taxonomies, or classic register_sidebar widgets — the theme stays within native WordPress structures.
Quality
Accessibility, performance, i18n, and review readiness
Accessibility
- Skip link printed early on wp_body_open.
- Main content landmark in block templates.
- Localized control strings for header and search.
- Reduced-motion handling preserved in CSS and JS.
Performance
- Scripts scoped per route — single, category front page, and reader views.
- CSS versioned by file modification time.
- Self-hosted fonts with a preloaded Inter face.
- Transients used for selected category and reader data.
Internationalization
- Text domain epiktetos loaded via load_theme_textdomain().
- Languages directory ready for translation files.
- User-facing strings wrapped in WordPress translation functions.
Review readiness
- GPL-2.0-or-later declared in style.css and readme.txt.
- Complete theme metadata, screenshot, and tags.
- Release ZIP excludes local dev artifacts while source keeps review tooling and nonce/capability checks in admin paths.
Documentation platform
A structured, versioned documentation hub
Epiktetos ships with a documentation platform on docs.mcorucu.com — a Next.js MDX site with versioned releases, sectioned navigation, product metadata, installation guidance, Sample Content notes, release process details, and technical reference pages.
Technical stack
Tools and standards
Explore Epiktetos
Read the documentation, browse the source, or reach out about a custom WordPress theme or documentation build.
mcorucu.com