Complete systems
checklist: all modules armed.
01
MODULE::VISUAL
Design & Visual Style
Dark Aesthetic
Deep black backgrounds with neon yellow and cyan accents throughout every element.
Sci-Fi HUD Mode
Second full visual style: cyan palette, corner-bracket panels, reticle dot. Switch in Customizer —
no rebuild.
Custom Fonts
Orbitron headings, Rajdhani body (Share Tech Mono in HUD mode). Auto-loaded from Google Fonts.
Neon Glow Effects
Badges, buttons, and headings carry neon glow. Colour auto-assigned from category slug — zero
config.
CRT Scan-Line
Animated scan-line scrolls across the page like a vintage monitor. Toggleable off in Customizer.
Category Colour Badges
Each category auto-assigned cyan, magenta, green, or yellow from its slug — no manual setup.
Pinned Post Indicator
Sticky posts display a thumbtack icon and PINNED label so readers know they're featured.
Protected Post Lock Screen
Password-protected posts show a styled cyberpunk lock screen instead of WordPress's plain default
form.
Clip-Path Shapes
Buttons and badges use angled corner cuts via clip-path for a sci-fi hardware aesthetic.
02
MODULE::NAV
Navigation
Responsive Mobile Menu
Hamburger button opens a slide-down menu on phones and tablets.
Dropdown Sub-Menus
Hover top-level items on desktop to reveal sub-pages. Tap the arrow on mobile.
Keyboard Navigation
Tab, Enter, Space, and Escape all work correctly for keyboard-only users throughout menus.
Sticky Header
Nav bar darkens and locks to the top of the screen as you scroll down.
Breadcrumb Trail
Shows Home > Category > Post Title on every page for orientation.
Logo with Fallback
Displays uploaded logo, or falls back to the site name in styled text if none is set.
Footer Navigation
Two separate footer menu locations: one for site sections, one for system/policy links.
03
MODULE::POSTS
Posts & Pages
Featured Hero Post
First post on homepage shown as a large full-width card to draw readers in.
Rich Post Cards
Cards show image, category badge, difficulty badge, title, author, date, reading time, word count,
comment count, excerpt, and tags.
Single Post Layout
Long-form view with hero image, large title, author info, and reading progress bar.
Static Page Layout
Clean full-width layout for About, Contact, and similar standalone pages.
Multi-Page Posts
Long posts split across numbered pages with navigation links between them.
Last Updated Notice
Badge shows the updated date when a post was significantly edited after publishing.
View Counter
Tracks how many times each post has been viewed; count displayed in post meta.
Word Count Display
Total word count shown alongside reading time estimate on every post.
Difficulty Badge
Tag posts Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Colour-coded badge (green/yellow/red) on cards and
single view.
Milestone View Badges
Posts crossing 100, 500, 1000, or 5000 views auto-earn HOT, TRENDING, VIRAL, or LEGENDARY badge.
Post Age Notice
Articles older than two years show a warning banner that content may be outdated.
Glitch Title Effect
Post titles briefly glitch-animate on hover for extra cyberpunk visual flavour.
Admin Edit Link
Admins see a quick edit link on posts and pages while logged in to wp-admin.
Related Posts
Three posts from the same category suggested automatically at the bottom of every article.
04
MODULE::SERIES
Post Series
Series Grouping
Assign posts to a named series (e.g. "Intro to Linux") to keep multi-part content connected.
Series Navigation Banner
Panel shows series name, current position, total estimated reading time, and prev/next links.
Collapsible Table of Contents
Lists every part in order inside the series banner. Already-read posts get automatic checkmarks.
Series Archive Page
Every series gets its own archive page listing all posts in order, linked from the banner.
Series Progress Widget
Sidebar widget shows a progress bar and numbered checklist; already-visited parts are highlighted.
05
MODULE::FORMATS
Post Formats
Standard Posts
Full card with featured image, excerpt, and a DECRYPT read-more button.
Quote Posts
Large decorative quotation marks with the quote styled as a block on archive cards.
Video Posts
Thumbnail with a red play button overlay to signal the post contains a video.
Link Posts
Extracts the first external URL, shows the domain, and opens it in a new tab on click.
Aside / Note Posts
Compact note-style card without a featured image for short thoughts and observations.
06
MODULE::ARCHIVE
Archives & Discovery
Category Archives
Styled header, description, and total post count for every category.
Tag Archives
Tag chip header with post count listing all posts carrying a given tag.
Author Archives
Full author profile card (avatar, bio, social links) displayed above their posts.
Date Archives
Browse posts by year or month with styled archive headers.
Post Count Display
Every archive header shows how many posts were found — e.g. "42 RECORDS".
Smart Pagination
Numbered page links with previous/next arrows and ellipsis for large archives.
Reading Time Filter
Filter Short (≤5 min), Medium (6–15 min), or Long (15+ min) posts via clean URLs.
Difficulty Filter
Filter Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced posts using the same clean URL system.
Filter Empty State
When a filter returns no posts, a helpful message is shown instead of a broken page.
07
MODULE::SEARCH
Search
Search Results Page
Styled results page showing the query and how many results were found.
Term Highlighting
Searched words are highlighted in yellow in every result excerpt automatically.
Pretty Search URLs
URLs look clean like /search/cyberpunk/ instead of ?s=cyberpunk.
No Results State
A styled message with a fresh search form appears when nothing is found.
08
MODULE::INTERACTIVE
Interactive Features
Reading Progress Bar
Neon bar across the top of the page fills as you read through a post.
Finish Time Estimate
Shows minutes left and the exact clock time you'll finish. Updates live as you scroll.
Tab Title Progress
Browser tab title updates with your scroll percentage — useful when tab is in the background.
Auto Table of Contents
Collapsible panel on posts with 3+ headings. Current section highlights as you scroll.
Image Lightbox
Click any post image to open full-screen. Arrow key and button navigation supported.
Code Copy Button
Hover any code block for one-click copy. Shows language label and checkmark on confirmation.
Syntax Highlighting
Code blocks colour-coded by language. Keywords, strings, comments, functions each styled distinctly.
Scroll Reveal Animations
Post cards fade in as they scroll into view. Skipped automatically for reduced-motion users.
Back-to-Top Button
Fixed button appears after scrolling down, returning you instantly to the top of the page.
Archive Keyboard Shortcuts
Press j/k to move between posts, o to open, ? to see all shortcuts. No mouse needed.
Command Palette
Ctrl+K / Cmd+K to instantly search posts and jump to navigation links without the mouse.
Announcement Bar
Dismissible banner above nav for important messages. Info, warning, or alert styling.
Reading Queue
Bookmark button on every post saves articles to a personal browser-stored reading queue.
Reading List Page
Page template displays the visitor's saved queue with thumbnails, titles, and remove button.
Reading Stats Page
Template shows total posts read, reactions given, and posts currently queued per visitor.
Post Reactions
FIRE, HYPE, INTEL, or CORRUPT reactions. Server-side counts, one vote per visitor per post.
Read Tracker
Posts you've read get a cyan READ badge on archive pages. History saved in the browser.
Share Buttons
X/Twitter, Mastodon, Telegram, and a copy-link button on every post.
Font Size Toggle
S / M / L buttons in the post footer. Choice persisted in the browser across visits.
Anchor Link Copy
Hover any H2/H3/H4 to reveal a link icon. Clicking copies the direct anchor URL.
Auto-Save Draft Comments
Comment drafts saved in the browser and restored automatically if you navigate away.
Recently Viewed Tracking
Every post you read is silently saved to local browser history for the Recently Viewed widget.
09
MODULE::SHORTCODES
Shortcodes
Code Block
[codeblock lang="php"] — terminal-style block with language label and copy button.
Callout Box
[callout type="info/warning/danger/tip"] — styled alert with icon and colour-coded border.
Spoiler
[spoiler] — hides content behind a blur that the reader reveals with a click.
Inline Footnotes
[fn] — numbered footnote. All collected and printed as a linked list at the article end.
Pull Quote
[pullquote] — floats a styled pull quote right or left of the post body; full-width on mobile.
Diff Block
[diff lang="php"] — colour-coded diff view: green added, red removed, cyan hunk headers.
Keyboard Badges
[kbd]Ctrl+K[/kbd] — renders keycap badges, auto-splitting on + to wrap each key.
Changelog
[changelog][version num="" date=""] — versioned history block with collapsible entries per release.
10
MODULE::WIDGETS
Sidebar & Widgets
Search Widget
Styled search box with custom label and status badge.
Recent Posts Widget
Latest posts with thumbnail, category badge, title, and date.
Categories Widget
All categories with colour-coded icon and post count.
Tag Cloud Widget
Tags displayed at different sizes based on how many posts carry them.
Archive Widget
Post history grouped by year, with each year collapsing to show its months.
Most Viewed Widget
Top posts ranked by view count. Configurable number of results to display.
Recently Viewed Widget
Visitor's personal reading history — up to six posts with thumbnails and reading times.
Recently Commented Widget
Posts with most recent approved comments, deduplicated so each post appears once.
Series Progress Widget
Progress bar and numbered checklist for series posts; visited parts highlighted automatically.
Sticky Sidebar
Sidebar stays visible as you scroll through long posts — always in reach.
11
MODULE::CUSTOMISER
Customiser Settings
Visual Style Selector
Switch entire theme between Cyberpunk and Sci-Fi HUD from Appearance > Customize. No rebuild.
Social Link Icons
Enter X/Twitter, Mastodon, and Telegram URLs; icons appear in the footer automatically.
Announcement Bar Config
Turn on site-wide banner, set message, and choose info (cyan), warning (yellow), or alert (red)
styling.
CRT Scanline Toggle
Turn the animated scan-line effect on or off without touching any code.
Status Strip Text
Customise the status label and tagline shown in the bar beneath navigation.
Index Page Heading
Change what the main blog page title says. Default: INCOMING TRANSMISSIONS.
Footer Brand Text
Set your footer tagline and a short site description shown in the footer.
Copyright Text
Enter custom copyright text or leave blank for an auto-generated one with the current year.
12
MODULE::ADMIN
Admin Tools
Admin Bar View Count
When a logged-in admin or editor views any single post, the live view count appears in the WP admin
bar.
13
MODULE::AUTHORS
Author Profiles
Author Bio Box
Below every article: avatar, name, handle, bio, and social links in a styled panel.
Custom Handle Field
Authors set a handle (e.g. @username) that appears in their bio card on every post.
Author Social Links
Each author can add X/Twitter, Mastodon, and Telegram links from their wp-admin profile page.
Author Archive with Profile
Visiting an author's archive shows their full profile card above their post listing.
14
MODULE::COMMENTS
Comments
Styled Comment Section
Comments use the theme's HUD aesthetic with a "TRANSMISSIONS RECEIVED" heading.
Moderator Badge
Comments from moderators display a [MOD] label so readers can identify site staff.
Threaded Comments
Replies visually indented and colour-differentiated by nesting depth.
Pending Moderation Notice
Comments awaiting approval show "TRANSMISSION PENDING CLEARANCE" instead of nothing.
Comments Closed Notice
"TRANSMISSION CHANNEL CLOSED" message appears instead of a broken or missing form.
Initials Fallback Avatar
No Gravatar? The author's initials appear in a styled avatar box instead of a blank image.
Themed Comment Form
Fields use cyberpunk-flavoured labels — e.g. OPERATIVE_ID for the name field.
15
MODULE::MEDIA
Media & Attachments
Image Attachment Pages
Direct image links show the full-size photo in a clean, themed layout.
EXIF Data Display
Camera, aperture, focal length, ISO, and shutter speed shown when the image contains them.
File Download Pages
Non-image attachments show the filename and a styled download button.
Return to Post Link
Attachment pages link back to the parent post they belong to.
Custom Gallery Grid
[gallery] shortcode outputs a styled grid with an expand overlay on each image.
Video Embed Wrapper
YouTube and other embeds get a HUD-style header bar wrapping the player.
Responsive Tables
Tables in post content scroll horizontally on small screens instead of breaking the layout.
16
MODULE::SEO
SEO & Metadata
Open Graph Tags
Posts share correctly on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms with title, description, and image.
Twitter / X Cards
Posts show a large image preview card when shared on X/Twitter.
Structured Data (JSON-LD)
Article, WebSite SearchAction, and BreadcrumbList schema for Google rich results.
Canonical URLs
Every page has a canonical link to prevent duplicate content issues with search engines.
Noindex on Search & 404
Search results and 404 pages are automatically excluded from search engine indexing.
SEO Plugin Compatible
When Yoast, RankMath, AIOSEO, or The SEO Framework is active, the theme steps aside to avoid
duplicates.
17
MODULE::A11Y
Accessibility
Skip to Content Link
Keyboard users bypass the navigation and jump straight to main content.
Semantic HTML Landmarks
Screen readers navigate by header, nav, main, sidebar, and footer regions throughout.
Visible Focus Styles
Every interactive element shows a clear highlight when navigated by keyboard.
Reduced Motion Support
All animations disabled automatically when the visitor's OS prefers reduced motion.
ARIA Labels Throughout
Screen readers receive descriptive labels on icons, buttons, modals, and menus everywhere.
Minimum Touch Targets
Buttons and links sized to minimum touch target standards for comfortable tapping on touchscreens.