Sweet 16 is a Jekyll theme that rebuilds the visual design of the WordPress Twenty Sixteen default theme as a static-site template, created as a direct reaction to the content injection vulnerability in WordPress 4.7.
What is Sweet 16?
Sweet 16 is a Jekyll theme that reproduces the look of the WordPress Twenty Sixteen (2016) default theme without requiring WordPress itself. It takes Jekyll's standard content structure — Markdown posts in _posts and data files in _data — and outputs a static HTML website with the familiar WordPress 2016 appearance. The theme was built because the author liked the design of WordPress default themes but found WordPress too complex and, after a remote content injection incident, decided to move to a static site. The project is distributed under the GPL license because it is derived from the WordPress theme.
Key Features
- Static site security — Because Sweet 16 generates plain HTML, it avoids the content injection vulnerability that affected WordPress 4.7, where an unauthenticated attacker could inject spam content.
- WordPress 2016 design — The theme closely follows the visual design of the official Twenty Sixteen theme; any differences are treated as bugs and are open to fixes.
- Separation of concerns — Writers interact only with the
_dataand_postsdirectories, while developers work on the theme code, allowing customization without disrupting content creation. - Jekyll platform — Built for Jekyll, the Ruby-based static site generator; posts are simple Markdown files, and no database or server-side processing is required.
- GPL licensed — Released under the GPL, permitting use, modification, and redistribution under the same license terms.
- Community contribution — The repository is on GitHub and has earned 14 stars; users are encouraged to file bugs or submit pull requests for improved fidelity to the reference theme.
Who is it for?
- Jekyll users who want a WordPress-like visual design in their static site.
- Bloggers who prefer writing in Markdown and publishing via a static site generator rather than managing a WordPress admin dashboard.
- Security-conscious site owners who want the clean look of a default WordPress theme without the attack surface of a dynamic CMS.
- WordPress migrants looking to move a Twenty Sixteen–styled site to a static host with minimal visual change.
What can you do with Sweet 16?
- Start a blog — Create a new Jekyll blog with a built-in, visually complete theme that matches the classic WordPress 2016 look.
- Migrate a WordPress site — Re-skin an existing static site or rebuild content as Markdown to recreate the same design without WordPress dependencies.
- Learn Jekyll separation patterns — Study how the theme splits developer templates from writer-editable data and posts, a structure useful for collaborative projects.
- Customize a derivative theme — Since customization is welcome, developers can safely modify the theme knowing only
_dataand_postsneed care for writers.
FAQ
Is Sweet 16 free?
Yes. Sweet 16 is open source software released under the GPL license, consistent with its derivation from WordPress's GPL-licensed theme.
What motivated the creation of Sweet 16?
The theme was a reaction to a content injection vulnerability in WordPress 4.7, where a remote attacker could inject spam articles without authentication. The author chose a static site to avoid such issues entirely.
Does Sweet 16 require WordPress?
No. It is a Jekyll theme and does not need WordPress, PHP, or a database. It outputs static HTML files that can be hosted anywhere.
Can I contribute to making it more like WordPress 2016?
Yes. The developer considers differences from the reference theme to be bugs and explicitly invites bug reports and pull requests to close the gap.
What do writers need to know to use Sweet 16?
Writers need to work only within the _posts directory for posts and _data for site data (like navigation or custom fields). There is no need to touch layout or template files.
