Title: Finding a non-responsive theme Last modified: July 16, 2024 --- # Finding a non-responsive theme * Resolved [wperic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wperic/) * (@wperic) * [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/) * I’m doing a necessary replacement of my very old theme (veryplaintxt child). But the theme I tried (The Simplest) looks great until I check it on my phone. My current theme works nicely on the phone–it shows the page non-responsively and people can zoom in to see what they need. The responsive theme hides the sidebar stuff way at the bottom and, more seriously, scrunches the text wrapped around the image at the top so I get one letter at a time wrapping the left side of the image. * I tried searching for non-responsive theme from the new theme page in my site but it came up with nothing. * Are there any modern themes that are non-responsive? Or a way to turn off the responsiveness of a theme like The Simplest? * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Ffinding-a-non-responsive-theme%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US) to see the link]_ Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total) * [Justin Tadlock](https://wordpress.org/support/users/greenshady/) * (@greenshady) * [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/#post-17893486) * I wouldn’t recommend a non-responsive theme since most readers will likely find it tough to read/navigate, but it’s your website. So it’s up to you. _(For what it’s worth, I find your current theme really hard to read on mobile.)_ * Probably the best way to find a non-responsive theme is to look at older ones in the official directory by browsing backwards starting from the last page: [https://wordpress.org/themes/browse/new/page/1041/](https://wordpress.org/themes/browse/new/page/1041/) * There’s a good chance that some of those are not responsive. But it’s more of a “use at your own risk” type of situation because some of these haven’t been updated in years. * Thread Starter [wperic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wperic/) * (@wperic) * [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/#post-17893656) * Thanks, Justin. * I thought about trying to find an older theme, but as you note, there’s the updating issue. I’ve not updated WP and php on the site because I didn’t want the old theme to break things. * I was assuming I wanted responsive until I saw what it does. I end up with a silly one-letter-per-line down the left side of the word-wrapped image. And the responsive theme buries the sidebar stuff at the bottom of the phone, meaning the viewer may never see it. * I agree the existing site is hard to read on the phone, but one can zoom in. At least with the existing site the sidebar stuff is there to see so the reader knows it’s there. * I tried commenting out the viewport line in header.php of The Simplest theme. That seems to resolve the crazy text-wrap problem. But the text still can’t be read without zooming in. And it still buries the sidebar stuff. Maybe I just have to rethink the sidebar and put more in the menu. * Thanks for your input. * [Justin Tadlock](https://wordpress.org/support/users/greenshady/) * (@greenshady) * [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/#post-17893728) * > I was assuming I wanted responsive until I saw what it does. * I just want to note that “responsive” is not a one-size-fits-all thing where every theme gets it right. There are many themes that claim to be responsive or use (more modern) intrinsic design principles but are broken in some ways. Such as: * > I end up with a silly one-letter-per-line down the left side of the word-wrapped > image. * That’s a bug with the theme(s) you tested it sounds like. A theme without that bug would’ve moved the text below the image in that scenario or would have made the image smaller, depending on the screen/container width. * > And the responsive theme buries the sidebar stuff at the bottom of the phone, > meaning the viewer may never see it. * Generally speaking, a sidebar is meant to be an aside to your content, not the primary thing. If the viewer never sees it, that should be OK. Also consider that screen readers and others using devices where they cannot physically see your page are not going to see the sidebar if it’s loaded after the content anyway( regardless of where it’s placed visually). They’ll read it in the order that it’s presented in the base HTML or jump around based on headings. * If it’s truly important content/data, it should be added before your post content and shown on top. If it’s not, there’s no reason it must be presented at the same level as your post content and would naturally shift below the post content on smaller screens. * > Maybe I just have to rethink the sidebar and put more in the menu. * Absolutely. If it’s super important, adding it to the menu would be a better place than the sidebar for both visual readers and those using screen readers. * Thread Starter [wperic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wperic/) * (@wperic) * [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/#post-17893834) * Thanks. That’s good to know about the “bug” possibility. And your comments about the role of sidebars reinforce where I was starting to go. Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total) The topic ‘Finding a non-responsive theme’ is closed to new replies. * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 4 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [wperic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wperic/) * Last activity: [1 year, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finding-a-non-responsive-theme/#post-17893834) * Status: resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics