Now, what’s the big deal with the Sandbox? What can you do with it? Pardon me while I quote the readme.html (which I hope you all read):

• You can just install it, have a super-cool minimalist theme, and be done with the whole thing.
• You can skin it with CSS alone—no need to edit any of the Sandbox theme files.
• You can steal the functions, markup, theme files, et al, as pleases you.
• You can use it as a good place to learn a few things about CSS, XHTML, and PHP, perhaps.

Again, it’s really a great theme for a beginner to start learning and applying CSS. For those of you a bit beyond that, the sheer number of selectors and their nature (dynamic) will give you tremendous breadth in creating a rich design.

Skins

There has been some talk about what to do with skins for the Sandbox. Well, I’d like to say right from the beginning, that I am planning on creating a list of skins, and mentioning them when they come my way. Andy and I are both eager to see what people come up with.

I have already gotten more than a few e-mails about a possible “Sandbox Skins” competition. This has been mentioned on the forums and elsewhere more than once. I’m thinking that the best thing to do is support Thomas and his competition.

For now, though, I’ll say that it’s hasn’t been ruled out. My Magic 8 Ball says, Cannot predict now. So check back later.

On WordPress.com

If you’re using the Sandbox on WordPress.com and interested in customizing your theme, you’ll need to get the “Custom CSS” upgrade. And if you need any help creating a custom CSS for the Sandbox, read the readme.html file (it’s at the bottom of the Sandbox Skins submenu).

The “Minimalist” has been dropped from the title. (In reverence to actually minimalism perhaps.) The theme is now called just “Sandbox.” Good enough, I say.

Soon the Sandbox will be available for download. I am adding another skin, called Spartan, to the Sandbox core. I hope that the Sandbox will inspire other novices to get their feet wet and make their own theme—or maybe a “skin” as we’re calling these. You’ll only need to know some CSS basics to get started.

While the Sandbox isn’t available for download just quite yet, I promise that you can expect it in the next few dys. If you have any comments about the Sandbox on WordPress.com, you can get in touch with us.

For now, though, check on some of the people using the Sandbox. Look a the source. Visit different pages. Soak it in.