Boron

An HTML5 base theme for Drupal 7

Boron is a base theme for Drupal which converts the core template files to HTML5 markup. Like other minimal base themes, such as Zen and Stark, it includes only a few lines of layout-driven CSS, and markup that is search engine optimized.

Unlike the others, Boron utilizes the new HTML5 doctype and semantic elements, such as Article, Header, Footer, and Section. The result is a standards-compliant theme with valid markup and minimal CSS that can be used as a jumping off point for developing new sub-themes. This leaves your site positioned to take advantage of new HTML5 development features as they come into vogue.

Download Boron

• Boron for Drupal 7
• Boron for Drupal 6
• Boron for Zen

Update: Originally, we had planned to port Boron to Fusion, Genesis, and AdaptiveTheme, but those plans are on hold. AdaptiveTheme has already converted to HTML5 in the D7 version, so no need for Boron there, and both Genesis and Fusion's D7 versions are under active development, so releasing a port for them would be premature. We'll wait a few months and see how things shake out when the dust settles.

Philosophy

The goal of developing this theme was to convert the core Drupal templates to HTML5. Wherever possible, core markup, attributes and class names were left intact, and elements were simply converted to their HTML5 equivalents. This should make development easier, since this theme follows the standards and philosophies established by the core templates.

Features

• HTML5 doctype and meta content-type
• Header and Footer sections marked up with header and footer elements
• Navigation marked up with nav elements
• Sidebars marked up with aside elements
• Nodes marked up with article elements containing header and footer elements
• Comments marked up as articles with header/footer elements, nested within node elements
• Blocks marked up with section elements
• HTML5 shim script included for full IE compatibility
• Search form uses the new input type="search" attribute
• WAI-ARIA accessibility roles added to primary elements
• Updates all core modules to HTML5 markup