{"id":2799,"date":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/?p=2799"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","slug":"openstation-blog-what-wordpress-would-have-looked-like-in-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/?p=2799","title":{"rendered":"OpenStation Blog: What WordPress would have looked like in 1995"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve been wondering how far a theme can take <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/desktop-mode\/\">OpenStation<\/a>. Not just a wallpaper and a different color, but everything: windows, dock, menus, fonts, icons, layouts, etc. So I tried to make wp-admin look like two operating systems from a long time ago.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The same wp-admin desktop, with the same windows open, switching between a 1995 look (teal desk, grey windows, a taskbar) and a 1984 look in black and white.\" class=\"wp-image-1454\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/openstation.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/openstation-retro-95-to-84.gif?resize=1200%2C750&amp;ssl=1\" width=\"1200\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Can you believe that this is still WordPress? Turns out that the web is still fun! You only need WordPress, OpenStation, and one of these two themes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/mmtr\/wp-os-retro-95\"><strong>Retro 95<\/strong><\/a> reimagines wp-admin as Windows 95. It even comes with a Start menu! And the classic clock sitting in the bottom-right corner is also there. You can <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-os-retro-95.space.fast\/\">try it live<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"wp-admin with the Retro 95 theme: opening Posts from the Start menu and writing a new post titled Hello from 1995.\" class=\"wp-image-1455\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/openstation.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/openstation-retro-95.gif?resize=960%2C540&amp;ssl=1\" width=\"960\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/mmtr\/wp-os-retro-84\"><strong>Retro 84<\/strong><\/a> is the counterpart for Apple fans. It turns wp-admin into the first graphical OS that many people ever saw: the original Macintosh\u2019s System 1. The beloved monochrome display, the classic pixelated font, and more! Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp-os-retro-84.space.fast\/\">live demo<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"wp-admin with the Retro 84 theme in black and white: previewing documents on the desk and writing a new post titled Hello from 1984.\" class=\"wp-image-1456\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/openstation.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/openstation-retro-84.gif?resize=960%2C540&amp;ssl=1\" width=\"960\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And here\u2019s a fun fact: every icon is pixel art typed into a text file, one character per pixel. The fonts were also made the same way, letter by letter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"For each theme, a text file where every character is one pixel, the icon it becomes (a 1995 computer and a 1984 floppy disk), and the rest of the theme's icons.\" class=\"wp-image-1462\" height=\"717\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/openstation.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/openstation-retro-icons-as-text.png?resize=1024%2C717&amp;ssl=1\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Underneath, it\u2019s the same wp-admin as always, just a few decades older.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to build your own theme, <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/WordPress\/openstation\/blob\/trunk\/docs\/desktop-themes.md\">the docs<\/a> list everything a theme can change. Maybe it\u2019s time for a proper Windows Vista comeback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been wondering how far a theme can take OpenStation. Not just a wallpaper and a different color, but everything: windows, dock, menus, fonts, icons, layouts, etc. So I tried to make wp-admin look like two operating systems from a <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/?p=2799\">\u0645\u0632\u06cc\u062f \u067e\u0691\u06be\u06cc\u06ba<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailurdu.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}