# Easyread

Easyread is a text-first WordPress theme inspired by the typographic world of TeX, LaTeX, and Donald Knuth's Computer Modern typefaces.

## Introduction

Donald Knuth created TeX because he cared deeply about the quality of printed technical work. He did not treat typesetting as decoration or polish added at the end. He treated it as part of the thinking process: precise spacing, balanced lines, readable mathematical notation, and pages that invite careful reading. LaTeX, created by Leslie Lamport on top of TeX, carried that power into a practical authoring system used by researchers, engineers, mathematicians, writers, and students around the world.

I have always liked how LaTeX documents feel serious without being loud. A good LaTeX page does not compete with the text. It gives the text room, rhythm, and authority. The Computer Modern fonts are a major part of that feeling: elegant, academic, familiar to anyone who has read a paper, and still surprisingly beautiful on the web when used with restraint.

Easyread takes inspiration from that tradition. It is not trying to turn WordPress into LaTeX, and it is not a math-rendering system by itself. Instead, I wanted a WordPress template that borrows the best lessons from LaTeX typesetting: a clear reading column, strong serif typography, quiet navigation, restrained color, and a layout where the words come first.

## Design Goals

Easyread is built around a simple argument: blogs and essays should be easy to read before they are easy to decorate.

The theme uses Computer Modern as its primary typeface, keeps the default layout narrow and text-focused, and avoids pushing images, widgets, sidebars, or marketing blocks ahead of the article. The result is closer to a paper, note, or long-form essay than to a magazine homepage.

The current version defaults to a no-sidebar reading layout. Featured images are treated as supporting material, not the first thing a reader sees. Metadata, categories, links, and footer content are intentionally quiet so they do not interrupt the page.

## Features

* Computer Modern / LaTeX-inspired typography.
* Text-first homepage, archive, page, and single post layouts.
* Narrow default reading measure for long-form content.
* WordPress 7.0 compatibility updates.
* PHP 8.3+ compatible theme code.
* Classic WordPress PHP theme structure.
* `theme.json` support for editor typography, colors, and layout sizing.
* Responsive layout.
* Customizer options for layout, accent color, footer text, logo, and slider settings.
* Featured images, post formats, threaded comments, translations, and WooCommerce support hooks.

## Requirements

* WordPress 7.0 or newer.
* PHP 8.3 or newer.
* MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer, following current WordPress recommendations.

## Installation

Copy the theme folder into:

`wp-content/themes/easyread`

Then activate **Easyread** from:

`Appearance > Themes`

If you are installing from a zip file, upload it from:

`Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme`

## Local Testing

I tested this version locally with the official WordPress Docker image running WordPress 7.0 and PHP 8.3.

During development, the theme was mounted into:

`/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/easyread`

The local test site was served at:

`http://localhost:8888`

## Typography

The theme includes webfont files for Computer Modern Serif in:

`inc/fonts/`

The font is loaded on the frontend and registered in `theme.json` for editor-aware styling. The goal is to preserve the recognizable LaTeX reading atmosphere while still behaving like a normal WordPress theme.

## Credits

Easyread uses or builds on the following projects:

* WordPress, licensed under the GNU General Public License.
* Underscores, originally by Automattic, licensed under the GNU GPL.
* Bootstrap 3 and Glyphicons Halflings, licensed under the MIT license.
* WP Bootstrap Navwalker, licensed under the GPL.
* FlexSlider by WooThemes, licensed under the GPL.
* Computer Modern web fonts, derived from Donald Knuth's Computer Modern and distributed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 via the included webfont package.

## License

Easyread is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later, the same license family used by WordPress themes.

## Author

Created by Thrasos.

Website: https://thrasos.net