Last updated March 15, 2013. Created by JayDez on December 7, 2010.
Edited by Willynux, shivams, nevets, Francewhoa. Log in to edit this page.
Drupal starter themes are very useful when you want a theme that is already set up and ready for customization. Most of them require very little work to install and change. If you're just starting with Drupal then you will probably want to take a look at the five most widely used starter themes: Zen, Omega, Sky, Fusion, and Framework. If you want to learn more about Starter Themes check out Starter Themes or Using Base Themes.
Zen
Zen is the most widely used starter theme for Drupal. It has lots of good quality documentation and won the "Best Drupal Theme" title. Zen has a lot of flexibility built in which means you can build off of it to create even better themes. Other starter themes such as Zen NineSixty and Basic, were originally highly modified versions of Zen.
- Reported Installs: 114,113 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 5,6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, 3, and 5 column layouts
Omega
Omega is a highly configurable HTML5/960 grid base theme that is 100% configurable. Each zone (group of regions) can be configured for content first layouts (push/pull classes), hidden at any time and each region can be disabled, resized, and placed easily any way you see fit.
Omega allows for contextual layouts (different layouts/settings for various portions of a site) through integration with Delta and the Context module.
- Reported Installs: 54,775 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, and 3 column layouts
Adaptive Theme
Adaptive theme is a responsive HTML5 (Drupal 7) Base Theme.
Adaptivetheme is a powerful theme framework designed from the ground up to power modern, cross browser/cross device websites using responsive design techniques.
Adaptivetheme allows you to set up specific layouts for different device groups - such as desktop, tablet and smartphone - all with zero coding. Its all easy point-and-click configuration.
- Reported Installs: 42,640 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, and 3 column layouts
Fusion
Fusion is a theme used for creating advanced Drupal themes such as Acquia Prosper and Mix and Match. This theme can be based on a grid and has all the defaults already set. Fusion also has lots of support and can also Skinr for easy block style editing.
- Reported Installs: 40,519 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, and 3 column layouts
Sky
Sky is a minimal, center aligned theme, which is almost completely css based. It has many configurable colour options and supports some of the more popular contributed modules. Although there is no Drupal 7 support yet, the development team is hoping to have a compatible release ready by the time Drupal 7 is released.
- Reported Installs: 9,587 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 5,6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, and 3 column layouts
Framework
Framework is a grid based theme, and is almost completely blank as well. It is very clean and simple, and works nicely in mobile browsers. Framework is good for general placements and basic theme designs.
- Reported Installs: 5,770 (march 2013)
- Versions Supported: 5,6,7
- Layout Types: 1, 2, and 3 column layouts
Responsive Themes
A comparison of Drupal adaptive themes can be found under the article
What is the best starter theme for responsive web design in Drupal? (Responsive web design creates sites that display content differently depending on the device used for viewing them.) It looks like Zen 7.x-5.x or more recent, Omega, Adaptive Theme are popular choices.
Note: Statistics last updated: Nov. 10th 2012