Category: WordPress Themes

In an earlier article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to know more about the benefits of using WordPress themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out our article: An Introduction to WordPress Themes

In this blog post, you will learn where to find loads of great 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 avoid dealing with problems like lack of customer support and poor theme coding.

As we’ve explained in our previously-mentioned post, a theme is a special type of web design template that is used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many professional web designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community have access to thousands of unique WP themes designed for a wide range of purposes and needs.

Finding Great WordPress Themes: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed

If you were to launch Google and search for the following:

• best free WordPress themes
• best responsive WordPress themes
• best responsive WordPress themes for authors (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search results.

So, to help you save time and make things 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 both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate article. In this article, let’s just be covering 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 site’s web design.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free WP themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories & Theme Agencies

There are two types of places where themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme development firms.

WP theme marketplaces and theme directories are big aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

Some of the bigger marketplaces don’t just sell WordPress themes. They can also sell WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)

Commercial and independent theme developers can also create both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

As you will see, most commercial or independent theme developers 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 directories .

Let’s now show you where to find the best WordPress themes for your website or blog.

Choosing Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to find free WP themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as many free software users have discovered– 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, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with high quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Directory, go here:

http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes

You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WP Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WP dashboard with only a few clicks.

Use The Theme Filtering

WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the admin area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colors, Layout and Features …

This makes it easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly gray colour design, with a 2-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the post where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly on all devices (e.g. your computer, smartphone and tablet) …

You should 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’s free to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The downside of 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 theme developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask users for donations to help cover support costs.

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than a year since any changes were last made, then think carefully about downloading it, as WordPress changes quite often and this can result in conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still relatively 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 any money on premium themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for your site and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to paid WordPress themes.

Premium WP Themes

If you are looking for themes with stunning web design, or professional quality yet highly affordable WordPress web design themes with a distinctive look, unique customizable options and responsive 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 best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

(click on the images above to see all themes on ThemeForest)

If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in various categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and political blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for creative work, galleries, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to travel, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, music venues, 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal firms, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political issues, 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)

Browse lots of great themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

(click on the images above to browse more themes on Creative Market)

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can search through many quality premium WP 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market themes marketplace here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to view more Mojo themes)

Mojo is a directory for premium 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find quality premium WP themes in the Mojo themes marketplace here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme directories, let’s turn our attention to commercial WP theme development firms.

Commercial And Independent Theme Stores

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.

(click on above images to see more themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional premium themes and offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme collection.

(click on the images above to see all WooThemes themes)

StoreFront

StoreFront creates stunning e-commerce themes for WordPress. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.

(click on the above images to browse all themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that enables users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides a self-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 regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it is 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique design.

If this sounds too technical, don’t worry about it. StudioPress themes are very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing themes from StudioPress is that one low price entitles 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)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are a few more useful WordPress 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 web tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website or blog is using (including parent and child WordPress themes).

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the website.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site is powered by WordPress: Is My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell

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 not only confirm whether or not the site was built on WordPress, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used by the site and list any plugins detected.

• To use the online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about using this tool go here: How Can I Check If My Site Was Built Using WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We suggested this before and it’s worth repeating it again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A commonly-used strategy employed by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use established and reputable sites.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report with the results …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin Page, WordPress.org)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and premium responsive themes for WordPress useful.

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