In a previous article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes unique, then make sure to check out our article here: An Introduction to WordPress Themes
In this article, you will learn where to find loads of excellent free and paid themes for your website. You will also learn about the different types of WP theme resources and get tips on how to ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid dealing with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previous article, a theme is a special kind of web template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with the WP platform in mind.
Many professional web designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional WP themes designed for a wide range of website uses.
Finding WP Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and search for something like this:
- best free themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for churches (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in your search listings.
So, to help you save time and make things easier, we’ll 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 later post. For now, please note that we will only be focusing on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over the design areas of your website.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid WordPress 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 will be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
Theme Directories vs Commercial WordPress Theme Design Companies
There are mostly two kinds of places where you can find themes. The first is in WP theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WordPress theme companies.
WP theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers search 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent WP theme development firms can also design both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of developer, to large theme design and development companies.
Most commercial or independent theme companies 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great WordPress themes for your website or blog.
Where To Find A Responsive WP Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to download free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WP theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as some free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your site, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and make sure that each theme in the directory meets high quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Look For Free Themes Inside Your Own WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP dashboard with just a few clicks.
Use The WordPress Theme Filters
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 2-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another 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 display correctly across all devices (e.g. the laptops, smartphones and tablets used by visitors to browse your site) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …
… and bring up only WP themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress 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 offer 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 WP themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and it’s unrealistic to expect the developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask for donations to help cover their support costs.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over a year since any changes were made, then it’s best to think twice about using it, as WordPress is frequently updated and these changes can create conflicts or errors with older code.
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 paid themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for you and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding premium 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 responsive support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WordPress Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and well known WordPress theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and green living blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites or marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, writing professionals, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to travel, dining out & restaurants, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, dining out, 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. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for travel, trades or professionals (repairers, legal practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental issues, 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)
Go here to find quality premium themes in the ThemeForest marketplace:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse thousands of 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 marketplace, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Wedding themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium WordPress 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. BuddyPress or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial and independent WordPress theme vendors.
Commercial And Independent Theme Vendors
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality 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 great themes and offers a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to see all themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in creating WordPress themes for e-commerce. StoreFront 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 lets users quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your 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 this framework consistently updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that it always remains compatible with the latest version of WordPress, 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 using the Genesis framework 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 all sounds too technical, don’t worry 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 above images to browse more StudioPress themes)
Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this post with some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That – WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free web tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website or blog uses.
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 was built using WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site uses the WordPress CMS platform: Is My Site 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 has been built on WordPress, but it will also list the WP theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins detected.
- To use this online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn how to use this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On The WordPress CMS Platform
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin
We suggested this before and it’s worth repeating again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A method that is commonly used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org repository, or use established and reputable sites.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may contain malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin Page, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find great WP useful.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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