Aurora is the theme. Nova is the plugin. They work together, but they are separate products with distinct roles. This article clarifies what each one provides so you know exactly what you have installed at any point.
What Aurora Provides
Aurora is the WordPress theme that handles all core rendering: the template hierarchy, the Customizer settings, CSS loading, and the layout system itself. It ships with 53 built-in layout templates across eight page regions:
| Region | Aurora layouts |
|---|---|
| Header | 8 |
| Homepage | 5 |
| Single Post | 10 |
| Archives | 13 |
| Author Page | 4 |
| Search Results | 3 |
| 404 Page | 5 |
| Footer | 5 |
Aurora also handles all per-layout CSS loading, the Customizer dropdowns, mobile menus, social icons, the archive banner system, reading time, drop caps, share buttons, and every other built-in feature.
What Nova Adds
Nova is an optional plugin that extends Aurora in two ways:
- Additional layout templates: Nova adds more layouts to Aurora’s existing regions. These appear in the same Customizer dropdowns as Aurora’s built-in options. Nova does not change how the layout system works. It simply adds more choices.
- Per-item overrides: Nova adds override panels to the post editor, category/tag edit screens, and user profile pages. This lets you assign a different layout, banner type, or sidebar setting to a specific post, term, or author without changing the global defaults.
How to Tell Which Is Which
In the Customizer dropdowns, Aurora’s built-in layouts and Nova’s additional layouts appear in the same list with no visual distinction. If you need to know whether a specific layout came from Aurora or Nova, deactivating Nova will remove Nova’s templates from the dropdown. Aurora’s remain.
Do You Need Nova?
Aurora is fully functional without Nova. All 53 built-in layouts, all Customizer settings, and all features work independently. Nova is worth adding when you want more layout variety or need per-post and per-category control that the global Customizer cannot provide.
See Introduction to Nova for pricing and installation details.