{"id":128,"date":"2026-10-12T12:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/openstation-blog-what-wordpress-would-have-looked-like-in-1995\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:31:07","slug":"openstation-blog-what-wordpress-would-have-looked-like-in-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/openstation-blog-what-wordpress-would-have-looked-like-in-1995\/","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 loading=\"lazy\" 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 loading=\"lazy\" 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 loading=\"lazy\" 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&apos;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>","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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sripuwath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}