Tag: Free Themes

In a previous post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes WP themes so attractive to web site owners, then go here to read our post: An Introduction to WordPress Themes

In this blog post, you will learn where you can discover loads of excellent free and paid themes for your website or blog. 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 having to deal with problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.

As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web template that is used on WordPress-driven websites and designed to work specifically for the WordPress platform.

Many skilled web designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of professional-quality themes designed to cover many website uses.

Finding Great WP Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!

Let’s say you were to fire up Google and type key phrases like the following:

• best responsive WP themes
• best paid WordPress themes
• best responsive WordPress themes for artists (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in your search listings.

So, to help you save time and make your life easier, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WordPress themes simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we start, you need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a separate post. For now, let’s just focus on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over your site’s web design.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be listed as Premium (paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Vendors

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

WP theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large aggregators of themes. 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 WordPress theme vendors typically will create both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme development companies.

Many commercial or independent 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 find great WordPress themes for your website.

Finding Great Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WordPress Themes Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download free WP 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 many 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 … even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress.org directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also relies on a theme review team to review and make sure that each theme listed in the directory meets specific quality and security standards.

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

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

Find WordPress Themes Inside Your 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 WordPress dashboard with a couple of clicks.

Use Theme Filtering

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 a blue colour design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the post mentioned earlier where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. 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 display only WP themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of customizable features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The ”cons” of using free 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 dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask users for donations to help cover their costs of providing support and updates, bug fixes, etc..

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over one year since any updates were last made, then we advise you to 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 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 your site 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 how to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to 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 responsive support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WordPress Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme directories online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and administration sites, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, arts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to employment opportunities, classifieds, community resources, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, music venues, 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. home sales, etc.)
• Retail – themes for stores, trades or professionals (repairers, dentists, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of great themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the images above to see all WP themes at Mojo.com)

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 WP themes, but you can easily go through all of their WordPress themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Responsive or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find great premium themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s look at commercial theme design houses.

Commercial WordPress Theme Design Houses

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 view more themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs eye-catching premium themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offer a membership option that gives you access to their entire WP theme collection.

(click on the images above to see more 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 view all StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that lets you quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many web developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework regularly up-to-date to reflect best coding practices and to make sure 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 may 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 sounds too technical, there’s no need to feel concerned about it. StudioPress themes are very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing StudioPress themes 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 view all themes from StudioPress)

WordPress Theme-Checking Tools

Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WP Theme Is That? – WP Theme And Plugin Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme a site 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 theme the website uses.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site was built using WordPress: Was 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 a site has been built using the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used on the site and list any WP plugins it detects.

• To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Is It A WP Website?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We suggested this before and it’s worth repeating again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A well-known strategy used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress directory, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.

If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may be infected with 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. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then outputs a report …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin Site)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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