In another article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using WP themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then go here to read our post: A Practical Guide To WordPress Themes
In this article, we will show you where you can look for free and paid themes for your website. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid dealing with problems like lack of support and poor theme coding.
As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically in the WP CMS platform.
Many talented web designers and web development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community have access to thousands of great themes designed for many purposes.
Where To Find WordPress Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and search for a key phrase like this:
- best WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for blogs (enter whatever your business, area of interest or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search listings.
So, to help you save time and make things easier, let’s just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WP themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different post. To keep things simple, please note that we will only be covering the topic of finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over your web design.
Free vs Paid WordPress Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be made available to users as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories vs Theme Agencies
There are 2 places where WP themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme stores.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are large aggregators of themes. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
Some of the larger marketplaces don’t just sell WordPress themes. They can also sell WordPress plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme shops can also design both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme development companies.
As you will see, most commercial theme developers sell themes exclusively on their own web sites, but some will also list their themes in marketplaces and directories, or even create a free or “lite” version of their themes for free WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great themes for your website.
Where To Find The Best WordPress Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to search for free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as some free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a review team comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with high quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WordPress Themes Inside Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WP dashboard with just a couple of clicks.
Use WP Theme Filters
WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly gray colour design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in an earlier post where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will work across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …
… and find only WP themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to using free WordPress themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask users for donations to help cover their costs of providing support.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over a year since any updates were made, then think carefully about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your website is still quite new, it’s a good idea to start with a free theme until you have a better idea of the kind of site design that would work best for your site before spending money on premium themes. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and for converting your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WP themes in the WordPress theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid themes.
Premium Themes
If you are looking for themes with stunning design, or professional quality yet highly affordable WordPress web design themes with a distinctive look, unique customizable options and ongoing support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to see all themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and news editorials, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, ebook authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites about directory listings, holiday rentals, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. home sales, etc.)
- Retail – themes for stores, trades or professionals (repairers, medical centers, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, green living sites or blogs … even themes you can use if your site is still under-construction!
When you purchase WordPress themes from ThemeForest, you will receive email notifications when a new update is available for your theme …
(ThemeForest emails you theme update notifications)
Go here to browse many quality premium themes in the ThemeForest marketplace:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to view all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can search through many quality premium themes from independent theme creators.
As stated on their website …
“Creative Market is a platform for handcrafted, mousemade design content from independent creatives around the world.”
Creative Market doesn’t just sell WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Minimal or Wedding themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a directory for premium-quality WP themes where theme vendors are strongly encouraged to provide customers with lifetime support and upgrades.
According to their website …
“Mojo is a marketplace where anyone can find, rate and buy quality themes & templates in one trusted place.”
Like Envato and Creative Market, Mojo doesn’t focus exclusively on WP themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial WP theme stores.
Commercial Theme Developers
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to see all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates stunning themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their WP theme collection.
(click on the images above to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront creates stunning e-commerce themes for WordPress. Their themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the above images to see more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many website developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework consistently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes are always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.
This is because themes built with the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique design.
If this all sounds too technical, there’s no need to feel concerned about it. StudioPress themes are easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing StudioPress themes is that you pay one low price to receive unlimited support and updates, and you can install your themes on unlimited domains.
For more details, click here: StudioPress.
(click on the images above to see all StudioPress themes)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That – WordPress Theme And Plugin Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WordPress theme and plugin search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a site is using (including parent and child WP themes).
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme the site is using.
Tip: If you don’t know whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website uses the WP CMS platform: How To Check If A Website Was Built With WordPress
Using this tool is very simple. Just enter the site’s domain name into the field and click the search icon or hit “Enter.” The tool will then not only confirm whether or not a site is built using WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any WP plugins it detects.
- To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn how to use this tool go here: How To Tell If Your Site Was Built Using WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A strategy that is commonly used by a number of hackers and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org theme repository, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site may be infected with malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WP theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and then presents you with a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find great WordPress useful.
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