In another article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then go here to read the post: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your WordPress site. 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another post, a theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many talented website designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional-quality themes designed to cover a wide range of website uses.
Finding Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide
Let’s say you were to open up Google and search for the following:
- best paid themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for authors (type in whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search listings.
So, to help you save time and make your life easier, let’s just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different article. To keep things simple, let’s just be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your website.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are made available to users as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces & Theme Design Companies
There are two places where you can find themes. The first type of place is in WP theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme vendors.
WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large theme aggregators. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
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 developers can also design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of designer, to large theme design companies.
As you will see, most commercial or independent theme design firms sell their 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 WP theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to find great WP themes for your website or blog.
Choosing A Responsive Theme Themes For Your WP Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WP Themes Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to find WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason why, is because –as some free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.
The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also uses a theme review team comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets certain quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP dashboard with just a few clicks.
Use The WP Theme Filtering
WordPress provides a filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easy to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly pink colour design, with a four-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems across all devices (e.g. your PC, tablet and smartphone) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …
… and find only themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside of using free WP 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. Most free 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 change was made, then think carefully about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively new, there is nothing wrong with using a free theme until you have a better idea of the kind of site design that would work best for your site before spending any money on a theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for you and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding paid themes.
Premium WP 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 great support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular WP theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium WordPress themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view more ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and activism blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for portfolios, arts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about employment opportunities, buy & sell, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. retina-ready themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for catalogs, trades or professionals (plumbers, dental practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, parenting 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 sends you theme update notifications)
Browse lots of great premium WordPress themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to browse all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse thousands of quality premium WordPress 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 marketplace, but you can easily go through all of their WordPress themes and narrow your search using theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WordPress themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse all 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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Responsive or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium WP themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme design houses.
Commercial Theme Design Companies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to see more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs stunning premium themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the above images to browse all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in creating WP themes for e-commerce. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to browse all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework that enables users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it is always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you may have made to your theme.
This is because StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the 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 one low price allows you 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 browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are some useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That? – WordPress Theme And Plugin Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme and plugin-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a website uses (including parent and child themes).
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme the website or blog uses.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site was built using WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell whether or not a site uses WordPress: Is My Blog 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 powered by the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used on the site and list any plugins it detects.
- To use the tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn how to use this tool go here: Is Your Web Site Powered By WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker - WordPress Plugin
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known tactic used by many hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute themes and plugins that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress theme repository, or use established and trusted theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and outputs a report with the results …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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