Theme Lexicon

The site.standard.theme.basic lexicon provides a simplified theme definition for publications, enabling basic color customization for content display across different platforms and applications.

Overview

This lexicon ensures publications maintain their visual identity across different reading applications and platforms by defining core colors for content display.

Schema

Required Properties

Property	Type	Description
background	ref	Color used for content background (ref → site.standard.theme.color#rgb)
foreground	ref	Color used for content text (ref → site.standard.theme.color#rgb)
accent	ref	Color used for links and button backgrounds (ref → site.standard.theme.color#rgb)
accentForeground	ref	Color used for button text (ref → site.standard.theme.color#rgb)

Color Format

Colors are defined using the site.standard.theme.color#rgb type from the site.standard.theme.color lexicon.

RGB Color Type

Each color is an object with three required integer properties:

Property	Type	Range	Description
r	integer	0-255	Red channel value
g	integer	0-255	Green channel value
b	integer	0-255	Blue channel value

RGBA Color Type

The site.standard.theme.color lexicon also defines an rgba type for colors with transparency:

Property	Type	Range	Description
r	integer	0-255	Red channel value
g	integer	0-255	Green channel value
b	integer	0-255	Blue channel value
a	integer	0-100	Alpha (opacity) value, where 0 is transparent and 100 is opaque

Color Roles

background: Main surface color for content areas
foreground: Default color for body text and content
accent: Color for interactive elements like links and button backgrounds
accentForeground: Text color used on accent-colored backgrounds (ex: button text)

Usage in Publications

Include the basic theme in your publication record:

{
  "$type": "site.standard.publication",
  "url": "https://myblog.com",
  "name": "My Blog",
  "basicTheme": {
    "$type": "site.standard.theme.basic",
    "background": {
      "$type": "site.standard.theme.color#rgb",
      "r": 255,
      "g": 255,
      "b": 255
    },
    "foreground": {
      "$type": "site.standard.theme.color#rgb",
      "r": 31,
      "g": 41,
      "b": 55
    },
    "accent": {
      "$type": "site.standard.theme.color#rgb",
      "r": 59,
      "g": 130,
      "b": 246
    },
    "accentForeground": {
      "$type": "site.standard.theme.color#rgb",
      "r": 255,
      "g": 255,
      "b": 255
    }
  }
}

Best Practices

Consider readability: Ensure foreground/background combinations are legible
Test button colors: Verify accent/accentForeground pairs have sufficient contrast
Provide all required properties: All four color properties are required for a valid theme

Publication lexicon - Publications can include basicTheme
Quick Start - Implementation guide
Implementations - See how platforms use theming