# Keyframe: free WordPress theme

URL: https://symelo.com/tools/wordpress-themes/keyframe

Free WordPress theme. A cinematic block theme for vloggers, YouTubers and filmmakers: dark by default, a Daylight scheme, video everywhere, no plugins needed.

A cinematic block theme for vloggers, YouTubers and filmmakers: dark by default, a Daylight scheme, video everywhere, no plugins needed.

- Price: free (GPLv2 or later)
- Category: Blog
- Version 1.0.0, 2026-10-22. WordPress 7.0+, PHP 7.4+. GNU General Public License v2 or later.
- Style variations: Daylight, Gold, Neon
- Fonts: Archivo, Monospace

## Description

Keyframe turns a WordPress site into a premium video channel. It is dark by default (near-black stage, graphite surfaces and one vivid signal color), with a light Daylight scheme one click away, big 16:9 thumbnails with play badges, frosted-glass details and smooth, confident motion. Everything is built in: no plugins needed.

#### Highlights

* **Now playing.** The home page opens with your latest video post on a dark stage with an ambient glow taken from its thumbnail. Its featured video plays right there (YouTube and Vimeo load only after a click; video files play with the native player).
* **Rails per category.** Every category gets a horizontal, swipeable row of posts with previous and next buttons. Without JavaScript the rows still scroll.
* **Series.** Your categories as glowing poster tiles with their episode counts.
* **Theater for video posts.** Posts with the Video format or a featured video open in a theater layout: full-width dark stage with the player, then the title, meta, share links, chapters (built from the headings) and the content beside an "Up next" rail of related videos. Standard posts get a refined reading layout with a reading progress bar.
* **Featured video and badges.** Set a YouTube, Vimeo or video file URL and its length in the post's Featured video panel; thumbnails then show a glass play badge with the duration, and a play button on hover.
* **Forms without plugins.** Contact, newsletter and collaboration request forms. Messages are stored under Messages in the dashboard and emailed to you.
* **Galleries.** Masonry and Carousel gallery styles and a lightbox with captions, swipe and keyboard support for images linked to their files.
* **Motion.** Reveal, stagger, word-by-word headings, counting numbers, marquees and parallax from the Motion panel of any block; all of it switches off for visitors who prefer reduced motion.
* **Color schemes.** Dark by default with a Daylight scheme; visitors switch with the toggle in the header and their choice is remembered.
* **Style variations.** Studio (dark and red, the default), Neon (dark with lime and cyan), Gold (dark with warm gold) and Daylight (light).
* **Templates.** Blog home, single post, Theater, page, archive, search, 404, Landing page (no title, minimal footer) and Channel (a page laid out like the home page).
* **More than 45 patterns.** Seven heroes (background video, now playing, featured post, split with viewfinder, channel banner, film strip, centered), latest videos grid, rails, series, episode list, video with chapters, embed playlist, behind-the-scenes carousel, masonry stills, contact, newsletter and collaboration forms, membership tiers, sponsor marquee, gear list, stats, testimonials, FAQ, about and complete pages (About, Contact, Videos, Portfolio, Landing, Work with me).

Keyframe uses the Archivo variable font (bundled, no requests to other sites), with a condensed cut for headlines and an expanded cut for labels.

## Frequently Asked Questions

#### Where do form messages go?

Every form submission is saved under Messages in the dashboard (with an unread count) and emailed to the site's administration email address. Change the recipients, switch off email or storage, and set how long messages are kept under Messages > Settings. A single form can also send to its own addresses: select the form block and set its recipients in the block settings.

#### How do I make a video post?

Choose the Video post format and, in the Featured video panel of the post sidebar, paste a YouTube, Vimeo or video file URL and its length (for example 12:41). The post then opens in the Theater template, appears in "Now playing" and "Latest videos", and its thumbnails get a play badge. Set a featured image too: it is the poster and the thumbnail.

#### How do I show my own categories as rails?

The "Rails by category" pattern shows a row for each of your four biggest categories. Change the number or the order in the Terms Query block's settings. A Query Loop placed inside a Terms Query shows that term's posts.

#### Can I turn off the animations?

Remove the Motion classes from a block in its Motion panel. Visitors whose system asks for reduced motion never see the animations.

#### How does the dark mode work?

The site is dark by default. The sun and moon button in the header switches to the Daylight scheme and remembers the choice in the visitor's browser. If you pick the Daylight style variation, the site is light by default and the button switches to dark.

#### Which template should I use for the page patterns?

The complete page patterns (About, Contact, Videos, Portfolio, Landing, Work with me) look best with the Landing page template, which has no page title and a header that floats over the first section.

## Downloads

- [Keyframe 1.0.0](https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/keyframe/1.0.0/keyframe-1.0.0.zip) (2026-10-22, 3.5 MB, SHA-256 4e18331ae49c8dca76561e589cf1334f10196bf06ba605af736111fbd4c2ed9e)

## Screenshots

- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/keyframe/shots/home-b527f688aa.webp

- [All WordPress themes](https://symelo.com/tools/wordpress-themes)

## Related pages

- [All tools](https://symelo.com/tools)
- [Agent documentation](https://symelo.com/llms.txt)
