This is an update to a post I wrote in September 2012 titled WordPress.com themes that display author bylines, which listed free WordPress themes of 2012 that displayed bylines on both posts pages and single posts, single posts only, or not at all. My 2012 post served as an update to another blogger’s post Author and profile displayed or not (Panos, 2009; 2011). This present post covers all free WordPress Themes for Blogs at WordPress.com from January 2012 through July 2014.
A matter of style
Displaying an author’s name is a matter of style, not content. As I wrote in WordPress themes not showing author bylines explained, the author’s byline is on every WordPress post and posts page. It is always there in the HTML; whether it is displayed or hidden is an effect of CSS that makes up the theme. It has no affect on search engine optimization (SEO) or Google Authorship.
A matter of preference
Some authors feel no need to have their bylines displayed except on single posts; for them, there are themes that hide bylines on posts pages. Others have multi-author blogs and want each author’s byline displayed everywhere. (Mind, I tested all these themes on my single-author blog.) Others, especially in organizational blogs, might want to present a more collective identity; for them, there are themes that hide bylines on all posts.
Here, then, is a list of free WordPress themes released from January 2012 through July 2014 that do and do not display bylines on single-author blogs:
Themes that display bylines both on posts pages and single posts
- Able
- Adventure Journal
- Blaskan
- Book Lite
- Bosco
- Brand New Day
- Comet
- Espied
- Fictive
- Flounder
- Grisaille
- Ideation & Intent
- iTheme2
- Newsworthy
- Origin
- Parament
- Responsive
- Retro-fitted
- Ryu
- San Kloud
- Shaan
- Sidespied
- Strange Little Town
- Syntax
- Timepiece
- Zoren
Themes that display bylines on single posts only
- Academica
- Adelle
- Ari
- Ascetica
- Babylog
- Balloons
- Blissful Blog
- Bushwick
- Chalkboard
- Cheer
- Circa
- The Columnist
- Confit
- Crafty
- Ever After
- Expound
- Fanwood Light
- Fiore
- Fontfolio
- Forever
- Hatch
- Hemmingway Rewritten
- Hexa
- Hero
- Hum
- Isola
- Kelly
- Lovebirds
- Minimalizine
- Misty Lake
- Monster
- Motif
- My Life
- Oxygen
- Pachyderm
- Panel
- Pictorico
- Publish
- Quadra
- Retro MacOS
- Runo Lite
- SemPress
- Sidekick
- Sight
- Skylark
- Something Fishy
- Sorbet
- Spirit
- Spun
- Stay
- Suits
- Sundance
- Sunspot
- Superhero
- Tonal
- Truly Minimal
- Trvl
- Twenty Fourteen
- Typo
- Untitled
- Visual
- Yoko
Themes that do not display bylines
- Adaption
- Big Brother
- Bold Life
- BonPress
- Delicacy
- EventBrite Multi Event
- EventBrite Single Event
- Highwind
- Illustrator
- McKinley
- Mixfolio
- Reddle
- Shine On
- Silesia
- Singl
- Triton Lite
- Twenty Twelve
- Twenty Thirteen
- Vintage Camera
- Widely
- Writr
Was this helpful? Please like, comment, and share. I spent many hours testing all these different themes. It would be good to know it was worth it!
Daniel Greene 
Comments welcome