The Modern theme is a contemporary archive theme built around large images and a card-based layout. It's ideal for visual newsletters where each post benefits from a prominent cover image and plenty of breathing room.
You can switch to the Modern theme—and tweak any of the settings below—from your archive settings.
Configuration
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Posts per page | Number of posts to display per page | 20 |
| Archive layout | Single column, or a two-column grid on wide screens | Single column |
| Dark mode | Match your reader's system dark mode preference | Disabled |
| Latest issue link | Link to your most recent published issue from the subscribe page (only shown when your archive is public) | Disabled |
| Accent color | Primary accent color | #0069FF |
| Accent color (dark mode) | Primary accent color for dark mode | #4A9EFF |
| Body font | Font family for body text | 'Source Serif 4 Variable' |
| Accent font | Font family for headings and accents | Hex Franklin |
| Background color | Page background color | #FAFAFA |
| Background color (dark mode) | Page background color for dark mode | #1A1A1E |
| Blockquote style | Visual style for blockquote text | Card |
| Post navigation | Show links to the previous and next post at the foot of each archived post | Enabled |
Changelog
2026-06-30
- Added previous/next post navigation at the foot of each archived post, with a
post_navigationsetting to toggle it (#9432)
2026-06-19
- Added an opt-in one-click "read the latest edition" link to the subscribe page (Latest issue link setting, off by default) (#9687)
2026-06-18
- Removed the
is_publicly_archivedtemplate variable; custom templates should usearchival_mode == "enabled"instead - Removed the unused
has_bluesky_embedstemplate variable
2026-06-16
- Added an opt-in two-column archive index layout (Archive layout setting) (#9423)
2026-06-13
- Fixed default font name so Source Serif 4 loads on archives (#9538)
2026-05-28
- Gated archive premium label on active paid subscriptions (#9033)
2026-03-19
- Derived social sharing buttons from social links (#7727)
2026-03-18
- Fixed precedence on bar-style blockquotes (#7746)
2026-03-17
- Changed blockquote option from sizes to styles (#7725)
- Combined dark-mode color variants into a single tabbed UI (#7726)
2026-03-14
- Added configurable background colors (#7668)
2026-02-09
- Added blockquote font size option (Small, Medium, Large) to theme settings
2026-02-06
- Changed newsletter name from
h1toh2on subscribe page to fix duplicateh1tags (the header already contains anh1)