Fixing Image and Content Width Issues in the Twenty Ten Theme

Many users of the classic Twenty Ten theme encounter a common frustration: images and content areas not displaying at their intended widths. Instead of showing a full-width banner or a large photo, the theme seems to force them into a smaller, narrower container, often around 640px. This guide explains why this happens and provides the most effective solutions to regain control over your layout's dimensions.

Why Does This Happen?

The Twenty Ten theme was designed with a specific, fixed-width layout. Its main content column is not a single, fluid width; it dynamically adjusts based on how many sidebars are active on a page. When both the left and right sidebars are populated with widgets, the main content area shrinks to its narrowest size to accommodate them. Furthermore, some features, like the Jetpack plugin's Site Accelerator (formerly Photon), can automatically resize and serve images, overriding the dimensions you set in the WordPress editor.

Common Solutions

1. Check Your Sidebar Configuration

The simplest fix is often to manage your sidebars. The main content area's width is directly tied to the number of active sidebars.

• Action: Navigate to Appearance > Widgets.
• If you do not need both the left and right sidebars, remove all widgets from one of them. The content area will automatically expand to a wider default size.

2. Use Custom CSS to Adjust Widths

For more permanent or significant width changes, you can add custom CSS. This is the best method for increasing the overall width of your entire site layout or specific elements like headers.

• Action: Go to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS.
• To widen the entire site container: The following CSS will change the overall layout width from the default 940px to a new value, like 1200px.

  div.menu, #colophon, #branding, #main, #wrapper {
      margin: 0 auto;
      width: 1200px;
  }

• To make a header image full-width: This CSS will stretch the header image to fill the main container, removing white borders on the sides.

  #branding > img,
  #access {
    margin-left: -20px;
    margin-right: -20px;
    width: calc( 100% + 40px );
    height: auto;
  }

3. Address Image-Specific Issues

If your uploaded images are still being resized against your will, the culprit is likely a plugin or a built-in theme image size.

• Check for Jetpack Photon/Site Accelerator: If you use the Jetpack plugin, its image acceleration feature (Photon) can resize images. You can try temporarily disabling this feature to see if it resolves the issue.
• Regenerate Thumbnails: After changing theme widths or image sizes, use a plugin like "Regenerate Thumbnails" to create new image sizes based on your current settings.
• Direct Image Control: For individual images, you can add inline CSS to your image HTML in the text editor to force a specific width.

  <img src="your-image.jpg" style="width: 920px; height: auto;" />

4. Use a Child Theme for Major Changes

If you are making significant modifications to files like header.php or style.css, it is highly recommended to do so within a child theme. This protects your changes from being overwritten when the parent Twenty Ten theme receives an update.

Conclusion

Width issues in the Twenty Ten theme typically stem from its sidebar-dependent layout or external plugins affecting images. Starting with the simplest solution—managing your sidebars—is often the quickest fix. For more extensive control, carefully applied Custom CSS is the most powerful and safe method. Always remember to use a child theme for any direct code modifications to ensure your hard work is preserved.