# Lanyard: free WordPress theme URL: https://symelo.com/tools/wordpress-themes/lanyard Free WordPress theme. A sharp block theme for tech conferences, developer events, product summits, meetups and hackathons. No page builder needed. A sharp block theme for tech conferences, developer events, product summits, meetups and hackathons. No page builder needed. - Price: free (GPLv2 or later) - Category: Events - Version 1.0.0, 2026-10-22. WordPress 7.0+, PHP 7.4+. GNU General Public License v2 or later. - Style variations: Blueprint, Midnight, Monochrome, Sunrise - Fonts: Space Grotesk, Inter, JetBrains Mono - Works with: [Secure Custom Fields](https://wordpress.org/plugins/secure-custom-fields/), a free plugin by WordPress.org, optional ## Description Lanyard looks like a well-funded conference out of the box: "conference badge meets technical blueprint". Paper-white pages with hairline blueprint grids, an electric blue accent and a signal lime highlight, Space Grotesk headlines set big and tight, and JetBrains Mono for everything that is data: times, dates, prices, counters and labels. A hand-tuned dark scheme follows your visitors' system setting or their choice. Everything an event site needs is built in: * **Events, sessions, speakers, tracks, ticket tiers and sponsors** as real content types with fields (Secure Custom Fields), so every page stays in sync. * **Schedule as a departure board**: day tabs as a segmented control, track chips with their colors, mono times on split-flap tiles, parallel sessions side by side, breaks as thin rows and "About this session" details. The day tabs and track chips stick under the header while visitors scroll, and work without JavaScript. * **Speaker badges** on striped lanyards with a punched slot, initials avatars in six accessible colors when there is no photo, a lime "Keynote" ribbon for featured speakers and a gentle swing on hover. * **Ticket stubs** with a perforated tear-off line; the highlighted tier is inverted. * **Split-flap countdown**, status pills (live, sold out, postponed, hybrid…), add-to-calendar menus (.ics, Google, Outlook), a venue card with a click-to-load OpenStreetMap map and travel tips, a sponsor wall and marquee, filters for events and sessions. * **Event structured data** (JSON-LD) and calendar files for search engines and calendars. * **Designed templates** for events, event categories, sessions, tracks and speakers, plus a news home, posts with a table of contents and reading progress, pages, archives, search (labelled by type) and a 404. * **Custom templates**: Landing page (no title), Full width and Event microsite (logo, in-page links and the ticket button). * **60+ block patterns**: seven heroes (badge hero, main stage, background video, terminal with keynotes, speaker wall, latest news, countdown), schedule, tickets, venue, sponsors, galleries (masonry and carousel with a lightbox), recordings, forms (contact, newsletter, call for speakers, group tickets, sponsorship), news grids and lists, calls to action, FAQ, stats, organizers, attendee quotes, footers and complete pages (About, Contact, Call for speakers, Sponsor us, Venue and travel, Landing). * **Forms with no plugin**: messages are stored under Messages in the dashboard and emailed to you. * **Five color styles**: the default Paper, Midnight (dark), Blueprint, Monochrome and Sunrise, each with its own precomputed dark scheme, plus a Terminal typography style with monospace headlines. WCAG AA contrast in every style and scheme. * **Motion that respects your visitors**: entrance animations, count-ups and the typed terminal prompt switch off for people who prefer reduced motion; the background video then shows a still image and always has a pause button. * **Fast**: bundled fonts with size-adjusted fallbacks (no layout shift), little JavaScript, no requests to other sites until a visitor clicks a map or a video. Import the demo conference from Appearance → Import demo to see everything at once. ## Frequently Asked Questions #### Do I need any plugins? No. Lanyard asks you to install the free Secure Custom Fields plugin (one click from the dashboard notice) so you can edit event dates, venues, tickets, sessions and speakers with proper fields. Without it, the pages still render from the saved data. #### Where do I add events, sessions and speakers? Under Events in the dashboard. Pick the event the home page shows under Events → Settings → Featured event; otherwise Lanyard shows the next upcoming event. #### Where do form messages go? Every submission is stored under Messages in the dashboard and emailed to the site's admin address. Change the recipient under Messages → Settings, or per form in the form block's settings. #### How do I build the home page? Create a page, choose the "Event landing page" pattern (or insert the event sections one by one) and set it as the home page under Settings → Reading. The "Event microsite" template gives that page a header with in-page links. #### How do speaker initials work? Speakers without a featured image get a badge photo with their initials in one of six accessible colors. Add a featured image to a speaker to show their photo instead. #### Can visitors switch to dark mode? Yes. The toggle in the header switches between light and dark and remembers the choice; by default Lanyard follows the visitor's system setting. Midnight and Blueprint are dark styles and hide the toggle. #### How do I add a background video? Insert the "Background video hero" pattern and replace the video in the Cover block. It loops muted, shows the poster image while it loads, has a pause button and stays still for visitors who prefer reduced motion. ## Downloads - [Lanyard 1.0.0](https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/1.0.0/lanyard-1.0.0.zip) (2026-10-22, 2.7 MB, SHA-256 334541b1be6ed60d09e50ccf83c3f27785a63cc2492426519ce10eec2cc80252) ## Screenshots - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/home-77bc56ef1b.webp - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/artists-75ae3c6ad8.webp - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/events-3cce16492f.webp - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/events-design-systems-meetup-porto-d909f75573.webp - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/performances-75ae3c6ad8.webp - https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/lanyard/shots/admin-fields-b43c7b5be9.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)