Theme marketplace: how to submit your own theme

The VeloCMS theme marketplace allows third-party designers to publish preset themes that any VeloCMS blog can install with one click. A theme submission is a JSON preset file plus a preview screenshot — no code, no npm package, just a structured color and typography definition. Submissions are reviewed within 48 business hours.

What a theme submission includes

A valid theme submission is a JSON file containing the preset schema: a name, description, author, color tokens (light and dark variants), typography settings, border radii, and spacing scale. Additionally, you submit a 1440x900 screenshot of the preset rendered on the VeloCMS blog demo template — the review team uses this to verify the theme looks as described and passes WCAG AA contrast checks.

{
  "name": "Midnight Serif",
  "description": "A dark editorial theme with Times New Roman and deep navy tones.",
  "author": "yourname",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "colors": {
    "light": {
      "background": "oklch(0.98 0.005 240)",
      "foreground": "oklch(0.10 0.01 240)",
      "primary": "oklch(0.30 0.12 250)"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "oklch(0.08 0.01 240)",
      "foreground": "oklch(0.95 0.005 240)",
      "primary": "oklch(0.70 0.14 250)"
    }
  },
  "typography": {
    "fontSans": "'Times New Roman', serif",
    "fontMono": "'Courier New', monospace"
  }
}

The review criteria

The review team checks: WCAG AA contrast ratio for all text/background pairs (4.5:1 minimum), no hardcoded hex values in place of OKLCH (this prevents the theme from supporting the Tailwind v4 @theme pipeline), and visual consistency across the five main template surfaces — homepage, blog listing, post detail, admin sidebar, and settings page. Themes that use custom fonts must use only Google Fonts or system-safe font stacks — no paid font licenses for marketplace themes.

Free vs. paid themes and revenue share

Themes can be listed as free (no price) or paid (priced between $5 and $99, set by the creator). For paid themes, VeloCMS takes a 30% platform fee and the creator receives 70%, paid monthly via Stripe Connect. Free themes can include a tip button that routes donations to the creator's Stripe account. The marketplace is currently in open beta — review turnaround is 48 hours during beta.