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Aggie UX WordPress theme v1.0.0 now available

We're proud to announce the official release of the Aggie UX WordPress theme!

Sep. 12, 2025 By Jeremy Tarpley, Texas A&M Division of Marketing & Communications

5 min. read

We’re proud to announce the official release of the Aggie UX WordPress theme!

No more juggling inconsistent designs or constant accessibility and security headaches from your theme. With Aggie UX (AUX) now available in WordPress, you can build and manage your sites with a consistent, brand-aligned foundation. The Aggie UX WordPress theme gives you access to a growing library of components designed for flexibility, accessibility and a unified Texas A&M web presence.

The Division of Marketing and Communications is committed to providing ongoing development for the AUX WordPress theme. We will continue to update the theme to implement new AUX components, add functionality, and improve user experience, accessibility, and security.

Notable Features

  • 32 Aggie UX components implemented as Gutenberg blocks.
  • Ability to customize — developers can customize the CSS and extend the functionality with a child theme.
  • Native WordPress updates — site admins will see when an update is available in the WordPress admin and can choose when theme updates are applied.
  • A custom news post type that is purpose-built to support news for university websites.
  • Built-in support for common website needs — no need to install plugins for Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, SEO metadata or navigation.

Installation Instructions

  1. Install and activate the Advanced Custom Fields Pro plugin.
    1. Note: The free version of Advanced Custom Fields will not work. We have purchased an unlimited license that you can use for any Texas A&M website. If you don’t have ACF Pro, email web@tamu.edu to request a download link and license key.
  2. Install the AUX WordPress parent theme (aux-wordpress.zip)
  3. Install and activate the AUX WordPress child theme (aux-wordpress-child.zip)

Not a WordPress expert? No problem! Email web@tamu.edu if you need installation help. We’ll add you to our contact list for a group training in the coming weeks to show you how to install the new theme. We also plan to provide self-paced training and documentation with more detailed installation instructions for website owners soon.

Release Notes

  • Report bugs if you find any! We have spent many hours testing for bugs but may have missed something. Please submit a bug report if you find anything that isn’t working! Two options are available:
  • This theme will not work with WordPress page builder plugins and Gutenberg Block librarieslike Avada Builder, Divi, Elementor, WPBakery, etc. Most of these plugins fail to create code that meets the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard that we are required to follow by law. They are also likely to present other problems, such as adding code that is incompatible with code from Aggie UX.
  • Make sure you turn off automatic updates for themes. We will make updates available, but we want you, as the site owner, to test on your development sites and decide when theme updates are applied. You will be notified when updates are available through native WordPress updates.

Roadmap

1.0 is just the start! These are a few items in progress:

  • Directories & Profiles —We’re creating components to support filterable and searchable directories and detailed profile pages.
  • Documentation and training —We will create training materials specific to our WordPress theme available on-demand through Canvas. Learn about Aggie UX trainings that are currently available.
  • Mega Navigation Dropdown —Currently in development in Aggie UX, with CMS integration up next. It will support college, department and unit-level navigation.

More is coming — we have a long list of additional features and enhancements that we will release over time.

We also plan to create a GitHub group for community code review and contributions.

How to get help or ask questions 

Join our weekly office hour! We offer a come-and-go virtual office hour every Thursday from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. to support Aggie UX, AUX Cascade and the AUX WordPress theme. These sessions are a great opportunity to ask questions, get guidance and troubleshoot challenges with web team members in real time.

To streamline support and ensure everyone receives timely help, please use these office hours for Aggie UX, Cascade and WordPress-related questions rather than reaching out via Slack or email.

Stay in the know with Aggie UX

Stay up-to-date with all things Aggie UX by subscribing to the #aggie-ux Slack channel (available to Texas A&M University employees) and this email list.

Thanks

Thank you to the Bush School, Corps of Cadets, PVFA and VetMed for being brave and patient enough to build new sites in our WordPress theme while we were developing it. We also thank everyone who helped us test the theme’s early versions (Mark Bennett!) and those who contributed before we decentralized (Justin Hollis!). Forgive me for all the others I’ve not named. Your feedback, help and patience have been invaluable!

Tim, Sarah and I also want to give special thanks to our development team for pouring countless hours into developing the WordPress and Cascade themes, Aggie UX and all of the tools, testing, training and collaboration that went into making this possible: Jarret David, Carleigh McFarland, Dion McInnis, Michael Nichols, Hailey Sanders, Andy Swaffar, Alejandro Viejo and Hailey Yamada.

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