Twenty Eleven is the default theme for WordPress in 2011. There are tons of really cool improvements and features packed into it — more Post Formats, beautiful new header images, alternate color schemes and layouts, even custom link colors. All those features add up to the best part of Twenty Eleven: just how customizable it is. It looks great as a blog, a showcase of all your posts, and even a tumblelog or photolog.

Post Formats

Twenty Eleven features seven Post Formats that help the look of your blog posts better match what you’re publishing. Alongside the Standard Format (for traditional blog posts and longer articles) are six additional Formats; Aside, Link, Gallery, Status, Quote, Video, and Image.

The Aside Format is for shorter posts of about 1 paragraph. Because they’re shorter and meant to be digested quickly the title of the Aside post is hidden on Index pages.

The Link Format looks a lot like the Aside post but if you’re using the Twenty Eleven Ephemera Widget to display a list of your recent Aside and Link posts (found in Appearance → Widgets) the title of your Link posts will point to the URL of the first link in your post instead of pointing back to the post on your blog.

The Gallery Format is meant for posts using the Gallery shortcode. Gallery posts will show a thumbnail from your galleries on Index pages.

The Status Format is for short personal updates. Each Status post will show the avatar of the post author alongside the content.

If you have a post that’s almost entirely a quote, the Quote Format will make those quotes stand out.

The Video Format is meant for posting a single video, which will appear with minimal post meta above the post to help your video content shine.

The Image Format is meant for posting one image and one image only. Here the post meta, seen below your post, is presented more like a caption for the post.

Light or Dark Color Schemes

With only one click Twenty Eleven will allow you to change your blog’s color scheme from light to dark. You can find the color scheme options in Appearance → Theme Options.

Custom Link Colors

From Appearance → Theme Options you can also change your blog’s link color to better suit your current color scheme and style.

Multiple Layouts

The Twenty Eleven theme features three default layouts for your blog. Two of those layouts feature a typical sidebar, either on the left or right of your content. The third layout does away with the sidebar altogether turning Twenty Eleven into a tumblelog theme. It’s perfect for turning your blog into a photolog.

In addition to the default layouts Twenty Eleven also features 2 custom page templates. Either one will take a normal WordPress page and transform the layout. The Sidebar page template is the simpler of the two. It simply adds a sidebar to your page. The Showcase page has more features.

To get started with the custom Showcase Page Template you need to create a page for it. Choose the Showcase Template under page templates in any page, save it, and assign it as the front page in Settings → Reading. This will change your site from the standard Twenty Eleven blog look to Twenty Eleven’s fancy showcase. You still have you regular blog list at hand for several views, like categories, searches, and tags and you can specify another page to work as your blog if you want to.

To add posts to the Featured Post section, also known as a post slider, just mark some posts as sticky. That’s all there is to it.

To have a big featured image you need to use an image that is at least as big as the header image (1000px x 288px). Also, make sure you have a set size for Large image under Settings → Media that allows for such sizes.

To populate the sidebars Ephemera Widget you can make use of the Aside or Link post formats when you create a new entry (or convert an old one).

And if you want an introductory text message, just write it in the content of your Showcase page and it will appear on your site. And that’s it!

There’s one more layout feature. The Twenty Eleven layout responds and adapts to your browser window. If your visitors are on a mobile device, Twenty Eleven will respond with a custom mobile layout. You can give this feature a go right now just by resizing your browser window on the Twenty Eleven demo site.

Pull Quotes

You can also dress up your posts by pulling images or blockquotes into the margins with a class of “pull” and “alignleft” or “alignright”. With blockquotes you can also add a class of just “pull” if you want a more dynamic blockquote that extends out on both sides. Here are some examples of how to do that in the post HTML editor.

<blockquote>A normal blockquote</blockquote>

<blockquote class="pull">A bolder blockquote that extends into both margins</blockquote>

<blockquote class="pull alignleft">A bolder blockquote that floats into the left margin</blockquote>

<blockquote class="pull alignright">A bolder blockquote that floats into the right margin</blockquote>

Adding a “pull” class to your left and right floated images will pull them into the margins as well.