Highlights · computed from our daily tracking data
- News Magazine X currently ranks #40 and has stayed inside the top 50 in every daily snapshot since Mar 25, 2025 (501 snapshots).
- Its best position in our tracking is #31, first reached on Jun 18, 2025.
- Active installs grew from 300+ when we started tracking it in March 2025 to 8K+ today — it crossed the 8K+ mark around March 2026.
- It is averaging 176 downloads/day over the last 30 days, up 27% versus the month before (139/day).
- The latest release, v1.2.58, shipped on Aug 7, 2026 (4 days ago) — release #49 since the theme joined the directory in 2025.
Performance · Google Lighthouse, official wordpress.org demo
| Mobile | Desktop | |
| Largest Contentful Paint | 2.7 s | 0.7 s |
| First Contentful Paint | 2.7 s | 0.7 s |
| Total Blocking Time | 0 ms | 0 ms |
| Cumulative Layout Shift | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Page weight | 192.3 KB | 192.3 KB |
Lab (Lighthouse) data measured on the official demo at wp-themes.com, where every theme serves identical content — so scores isolate the theme's own CSS/JS payload. Tested Aug 3, 2026. Scores vary ±5 between runs. Run a live test ↗
Ranking history
Active installs
Downloads per day
Details
| Author | WP Royal |
|---|---|
| Current version | 1.2.58 |
| Versions released | 49 |
| Last updated | 2026-08-07 |
| Added to directory | 2025-03-11 |
| Requires WordPress | 4.7+ |
| Requires PHP | 7.4+ |
| Type | Classic theme |
| First tracked here | 2025-03-25 |
Description
Easy to use Personal and Multi-Author Free WordPress Blog Magazine Theme - Suitable for WordPress Beginners and for Professionals as Well. Perfect for bloggers, journalists, and online magazines, news, blogs, and magazine websites. The theme has built in Magazine Grid Widget, Classic Post Grid Widget, Featured Tabs widget, Featured Post Widget, Subscription (newsletter) Widget, Category List widget and many other widgets. You can place your ads anywhere on the website, including the header, footer, various homepage sections, and other pages as well. The theme also offers a Header Footer builder with a Menu Widget, Logo Widget, News Ticker Widget, Social Icons Widget, Search Widget, Dark Mode Switcher Widget, Weather Widget (PRO), Random Post Widget, Offcanvas Widget (side menu) Widget, Header Image and another widget to build eye catching headers and footers. Clean and Modern Responsive design will perfectly showcase your content on any device, even on tablet, mobile & retina displays. Very fast, Search engine optimized fast loading speed, and SEO optimization, compatibility with many popular plugins & of course translation ready, coded with best SEO practices. Complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines by refraining from collecting any personal data restricted under GDPR. Works perfectly with all major drag-and-drop page builders like Elementor, Gutenberg, Brizy, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, Divi. You just need to write and be awesome! TEMPLATE DEMO: https://news-magazine-x-free.wp-royal-themes.com/demo/
Frequently asked questions
Is News Magazine X a free theme?
Yes — News Magazine X is a free, open-source (GPL) theme distributed through the official WordPress.org directory.
Is News Magazine X a block theme or a classic theme?
News Magazine X is a classic theme: it uses the traditional Customizer/widgets workflow rather than WordPress Full Site Editing.
How many websites use News Magazine X?
WordPress.org reports 8K+ active installs.
How popular is News Magazine X?
As of August 11, 2026, News Magazine X ranks #40 in the WordPress.org popular themes list. Its best position in our tracking is #31.
When was News Magazine X last updated?
News Magazine X was last updated on August 7, 2026 (version 1.2.58). It has shipped 49 releases in total.
Who makes News Magazine X?
News Magazine X is developed by WP Royal. It joined the WordPress.org theme directory in March 2025.
How fast is News Magazine X?
On the official WordPress.org demo, News Magazine X scores 92/100 for mobile performance in Google Lighthouse and 99/100 for desktop (tested August 2026).
