After over a year and nearly 50,000 downloads on WordPress.org, the Automattic team announced that the Independent Publisher theme is now available to the millions of sites hosted on WordPress.com.
The version available on WordPress.com is not an exact copy of the Independent Publisher theme available on WordPress.org, however the design is essentially the same and the WordPress.com team has gracefully credited me as the theme designer (the project contributors deserve credit too). Many things were stripped down or changed in my original source code to make the theme work better for WordPress.com sites and to simplify the available options.
You can visit the theme page on WordPress.com and see a Live Demo on WordPress.com. If you’re interested in trying out the WordPress.com version on your self-hosted site, you can download it on WordPress.com. Note, however, that the WordPress.com version is not backwards compatible with the version that is still being actively developed on GitHub.
The future of Independent Publisher
While the version of Independent Publisher available on WordPress.com is slightly more polished than the one under active development on GitHub, it contains fewer options and less flexibility than the WordPress.org version. My plan is to continue working on this theme as I have been over the past year and I will continue using the WordPress.org version on my personal sites. The next release of Independent Publisher (on WordPress.org) will be coming very soon and so far includes 4 bug fixes, 4 enhancements, and 6 new translations.
There are currently 23 open Issues on GitHub, mostly enhancement-related. In the coming weeks I will be reviewing the code changes made to the WordPress.com version of the theme to see which features I can port over to include in the WordPress.org version, such as Multi-Level Menu Navigation.
The primary goal with Independent Publisher at this point is to continue refining the theme and improving compatibility, while maintaining backwards compatibility for everyone who is already using the theme. If the comments on the WordPress.com announcement are any indication, this theme design is well-loved by many people and that only makes me more motivated to keep it current and up-to-date. 
Ciao from Italy,
I’ve made an italian translation for the theme (with POedit) and wanted to submit to you other than via Github (which I’m planning to learn). Can I send you the file?
Also I have some other requests, but not knowing Giuthub I’m waiting to list them. Do you mind if I send them via a direct email?
Thanks
Sure! You can email raam@independentpublisher.me
It’s a beautiful Theme. Great work! I’ve been looking for something to switch away from the old Twentyten. The Independent Publisher is the first theme that really suits in all aspects.
Thank you!
Like Martin, Independent Publisher is the only theme that addressed all my needs as a long-time user of TwentyTen. Thank you, Raam Dev!
You’re most welcome, Raymund! Glad you’re enjoying it.
Congratulations on getting your theme on wp.com! I hope the added polish will trickle back to the github version.
I love the theme and has been using i for quite a while on my blog and am looking forward to the next update!
Thanks, Johnny! Yes, the polish will slowly trickle back to the GitHub version. I’ve been running (and plan to continue running) the GitHub version on my personal site, so it will continue to be maintained for the foreseeable future.
I like how your comments are threaded. Can you share the CSS so that mine can look similar or no?
Hi Keishon,
All of the source code (including the CSS) is open source and available to look at.
Here’s a link to the CSS file:
https://github.com/raamdev/independent-publisher/blob/1.6/style.css
Hi, about central column?
The version on WordPress.com is not the same as the version on WordPress.org. The WordPress.com version is outside of my control. Automattic (the company behind WordPress) customized the Independent Publisher theme to run on WordPress.com and they removed several options.
I suggest leaving a comment on this post with feedback for the WordPress.com version.
Hi, in this new theme i don’t find same customize options of v1.6. like Column settings and others.
The version on WordPress.com is not the same as the version on WordPress.org. The WordPress.com version is outside of my control. Automattic (the company behind WordPress) customized the Independent Publisher theme to run on WordPress.com and they removed several options.
I suggest leaving a comment on this post with feedback for the WordPress.com version.
Hi Raam,
I dont like the look of the page on both wordpress.com and wordpress.org, they look different from what I see here on your page. I’d need it exactly how it is on your page. Can I customize it and still use wordpress as a cms to feed content?
The theme here on IndependentPublisher.me is the exact same theme (without any customizations) as you see on WordPress.org.
Is it totally free or you guys have premium version of this theme ?
The Independent Publisher theme is totally free and will always be free.
Where should I download your theme, Github or WordPress.org? Thanks!
WordPress.org would be the best place.
You can get it here: https://wordpress.org/themes/independent-publisher/
I love the look of Independent Publisher! Thanks for your work on this – it’s clean and neat. A much needed upgrade from my last theme. I am having trouble with the header size, however – I created a header with the recommended size (1440×600) but it’s cutting off a great deal of my custom image on it’s own (I’m not cropping). Any insight or recommendation for other image sizes? Thanks!
Hi Allison,
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the theme.
Apologies for the really late reply here. Please see this link for the answer to your question:
https://github.com/raamdev/independent-publisher/#how-can-i-use-a-full-size-image-for-the-post-cover
Hi, I’m not really familiar with writing and installing websites but 2 weeks ago my nephew taught me how to create a website using WordPress. We chose Independent Publisher as theme. I worked more then a week to create a nice site (check oldenbeuving.wordpress.com). I bought webspace at strato.com using WordPress (which was installed automatically). The Independent Publisher theme is totally different to the other one (check http://www.hypnolutiongroningen.nl). Is there a way I can import or install the one theme to the other WordPress (I guess it’s the com-version into the org-version)?
If you go to the theme page on WordPress.com, you’ll see a link in the righthand sidebar that says “Download Independent Publisher for your self-hosted WordPress site.”