What's new in Astro Themes - November 2025 | Themefisher

Big news! 🚀

We’re thrilled to roll out one of our biggest updates of the year.

We’ve upgraded all our Astro themes with a powerful set of improvements designed to make your websites faster, cleaner, and easier to manage than ever.

Let’s dig into what’s new.

TL;DR — What Changed?

• Updated all theme dependencies and removed unused packages
• New Draft Mode for pages + section-level show/hide
• Simple Google Tag Manager (GTM) integration
• Faster, lightweight YouTube embeds
• Disqus removed (due to performance, privacy, and low usage)
• RSS feed support added to selected themes
• Big cleanup of code, icons, and UI inconsistencies
• Sitepins CMS now pre-configured
• Node 22+ LTS support + environment fixes

1. Theme-Wide Package Updates and Configuration Enhancements

We updated every theme to the latest stable versions of Astro, React, Tailwind, Vite, and other key libraries. Unused packages were removed, and all themes now follow the ESM module standard, making imports cleaner and more consistent.

• Updated Packages:

  {
    "name": "neptune-astro",
    "version": "2.2.0",
    "description": "neptune theme with tailwindcss and astro",
    "author": "Themefisher",
    "license": "UNLICENSED",
    "packageManager": "yarn@1.22.22",
    "private": true,
    "type": "module",
    "scripts": {
      "dev": "astro dev",
      "build": "astro build",
      "preview": "astro preview",
      "format": "prettier -w ./src",
      "check": "astro check"
    },
    "dependencies": {
      "@astrojs/mdx": "^4.3.10",
      "@astrojs/react": "^4.4.2",
      "@astrojs/sitemap": "^3.6.0",
      "@types/aos": "^3.0.7",
      "aos": "^2.3.4",
      "astro": "^5.15.8",
      "astro-auto-import": "^0.4.5",
      "astro-font": "^1.1.0",
      "date-fns": "^4.1.0",
      "github-slugger": "^2.0.0",
      "gray-matter": "^4.0.3",
      "marked": "^17.0.0",
      "react": "^19.2.0",
      "react-dom": "^19.2.0",
      "react-icons": "^5.5.0",
      "@digi4care/astro-google-tagmanager": "^1.6.0",
      "@justinribeiro/lite-youtube": "^1.9.0",
      "swiper": "^12.0.3",
      "vite": "^7.2.2"
    },
    "devDependencies": {
      "@astrojs/check": "^0.9.5",
      "@tailwindcss/forms": "^0.5.10",
      "@tailwindcss/typography": "^0.5.19",
      "@tailwindcss/vite": "^4.1.17",
      "@types/node": "24.10.0",
      "@types/react": "19.2.2",
      "@types/react-dom": "19.2.2",
      "eslint": "^9.39.1",
      "prettier": "^3.6.2",
      "prettier-plugin-astro": "^0.14.1",
      "prettier-plugin-tailwindcss": "^0.7.1",
      "sharp": "0.34.5",
      "tailwindcss": "^4.1.17",
      "typescript": "5.9.3"
    }
  }

• Removed unused packages: autoprefixer, prop-types, @astrojs/rss, postcss, sass, @types/marked, remark-heading-id, remark-collapse, remark-toc, and shiki.
• Module Configuration Changes: All of our Astro themes now use ECMAScript Modules (ESM) for better importing of modules.
• File Refactor: We’ve updated jsonGenerator.js and removeMultilang.js to work seamlessly with the new module setup.

Why this matters: You get a modern, stable, and future-proof codebase with fewer bugs, fewer conflicts, and smoother long-term maintenance — especially when upgrading or integrating new tools.

2. Draft Mode for Pages (Highly Requested!)

Introducing a feature that many people have asked for: the ability to draft all pages. You can now save content as a draft and not publish it until you're ready. This is perfect for websites that require content review before going live.

• Page Drafts: If you set a page to draft: true, it won't show up on the live website. You can work on pages in private until they're ready for everyone to see.

  Example (in markdown/YAML format):

  ---
  title: "About"
  meta_title: "About Us"
  description: "this is meta description"
  image: "/images/about.png"
  draft: false
  ---

Or, Example (using Sitepins CMS):

With this, the "About" page won’t be accessible until you set "draft": false.

• Section Show/Hide: You may now control particular portions on a page in addition to full-page drafts. To do this, use the enable: false attribute. This lets you conceal certain parts of the website completely while yet maintaining them in the code for testing or future use.

  Example (in markdown/YAML format):

  ---
  enable: true
  title: Download the brunch of landing pages
  description: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
  button:
    enable: true
    label: Download The Theme
    link: https://themefisher.com/products/neptune-astro
  ---

Or, Example (using Sitepins CMS):

Why this matters: You can manage content the way real teams work — prepare pages early, hide unfinished sections, and publish only when ready. No more deleting content or maintaining separate branches just to hide work in progress.

3. Google Tag Manager (GTM) Integration Across All Themes

It's now easier than ever to add Google Tag Manager (GTM) to your Astro themes. With GTM, you can handle marketing tags and analytics without having to change the theme's code directly.

• To enable GTM, go to src/config/config.json and update the configuration:

  "google_tag_manager": {
    "enable": true,
    "gtm_id": "GTM-XXXXXX"
  }

Or, if you’re using Sitepins CMS, simply toggle the GTM option and enter your GTM ID in the settings.

• The package @digi4care/astro-google-tagmanager is now included in all themes for easy GTM integration.
• You can add tags and manage tracking codes effortlessly.

Why this matters: You can add analytics, pixels, marketing tags, and tracking scripts without touching theme code. This means faster setup, fewer mistakes, and easier collaboration with marketers or clients.

4. Enhanced YouTube Shortcode with Better Performance

We made the YouTube embed shortcode work better and load faster. We're now utilizing the @justinribeiro/lite-youtube package instead of the old react-lite-youtube-embed.

Here’s the updated implementation:

import React, { useEffect } from "react";

const Youtube = ({ id, title, ...rest }: { id: string; title: string; [key: string]: any }) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    import("@justinribeiro/lite-youtube");
  }, []);

  return (
    // @ts-ignore
    <lite-youtube videoid={id} videotitle={title} {...rest} className="rounded-lg" />
  );
};

export default Youtube;

Why this matters: Your pages load faster, your Core Web Vitals improve, and your Lighthouse score goes up — without changing how you embed videos. Users get smoother playback, and developers get better performance instantly.

5. Disqus Removed

Disqus was removed from most themes due to performance, privacy, and low usage. You can still add it manually if required. This update helps make the themes more streamlined and get rid of superfluous dependencies.

Why this matters: Disqus added heavy scripts, slowed down pages, and wasn’t used by most customers. Removing it means cleaner themes, faster initial loads, and fewer privacy-related issues.

6. RSS Feed Support Added to Some Themes

Some themes now support RSS feeds. Before, just the @astrojs/rss package was installed. Now, these themes fully support RSS, making it easier to share material.

Example rss feed link: /rss.xml

<rss xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>Northendlab | Astro Blog Theme</title>
    <description>Bigspring is a clean and modern blog theme.</description>
    <link>https://northendlab-light-astro.vercel.app/</link>
    <language>en-us</language>

    <item>
      <title>AI in 2025: What’s Next?</title>
      <link>https://northendlab-light-astro.vercel.app/blog/post-1/</link>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://northendlab-light-astro.vercel.app/blog/post-1/</guid>
      <description>This is meta description</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://northendlab-light-astro.vercel.app/images/post/post-1.jpg" medium="image"/>
      <category>Tips</category>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Why this matters: Your blog becomes instantly compatible with feed readers, email digests, and SEO tools. It expands your content reach and improves indexability with almost no setup.

7. Code Cleanup and TailwindCSS Refactor

We made the code easier to maintain by getting rid of bloat, cleaning up unneeded code, and deleting logs and comments that weren't needed. All themes were also reviewed for minor bugs and updated for better overall quality.

Why this matters:

Cleaner, more consistent code makes your theme easier to customize, reduces bugs, and speeds up development.

8. Minor Tweaks, Bug Fixes, and Icon Updates

We’ve also made various minor tweaks, such as:

• Replacing the old Twitter icon with the new X icon in the social media links.
• Removing Skype from the social.json configuration.
• Updating button styles and improving layout consistency.
• Replacing react-feather with react-icons in the DynamicIcon component.

Why this matters:

Small fixes improve polish, remove friction, and make the overall experience feel smoother and more modern. You get access to a much larger icon library, better consistency across themes, and easier icon customization.

9. Sitepins Configuration Added

Every Astro theme now comes with Sitepins CMS fully integrated and ready to use. And if you're not familiar with Sitepins yet — it’s our new Git-based CMS (currently in beta) that lets you manage websites visually, whether they’re built with Astro, Hugo, Next.js, or other static site generators.

It’s especially helpful for non-technical clients and teammates who need a simple, safe way to update site content without touching code.

Why this matters: Non-technical users can update content safely through a visual interface, while developers keep full control through Git. It reduces support requests, speeds up content updates, and makes the theme more client-friendly out of the box.

10. Node Version Update and Environment Configuration Fixes

We updated the Node version to 22.20.0 (LTS) or later and made certain changes to the environment settings, such as Docker, to make development and deployment go more smoothly.

Why this matters: Your development environment becomes more stable, faster, and aligned with the latest hosting platforms.

How to Get the Latest Version

To use all the new features and improvements, simply download the latest version of your theme from your Themefisher account dashboard. Every updated Astro theme is now available there.

Final Thought

We’d love to hear from you. What do you think of the new updates? What improvements or features would you like us to build next?

Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts.

If you haven’t explored our full collection yet, now’s a great time. Browse all Themefisher Astro themes and see what fits your next project.

Thanks for being part of the Themefisher community.
Happy building!