In an earlier post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to know more about the benefits of using themes and what makes themes so special, then go here to read our article: An Overview of WordPress Themes
In this article, you will learn where to browse hundreds of 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 product support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in our previous post, a WordPress theme is a unique kind of web template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed specifically in the WP CMS platform.
Many skilled website designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users have access to thousands of great themes designed to cover a wide range of purposes and needs.
Finding Great Responsive Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
If you were to open up Google and type key phrases like this:
- best WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for blogs (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information 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 WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a separate article. To keep things simple, let’s just be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over your web design.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that typically, you’ll find both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free WP themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Directories vs WordPress Theme Shops
There are mostly two places where themes can be found. The first place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme vendors.
WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors 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 design companies typically will create both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme development companies.
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 search for the best themes for your website.
Choosing A Great Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WordPress Themes Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to find 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 place your computer, digital presence … 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 to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain 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 WP Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress theme directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WP dashboard with a few mouse clicks.
Use The WordPress 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 Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a 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” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. your computer, tablet and smartphone) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and bring up only themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP 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 come with a number of customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The ”cons” to using free 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 urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes will ask you for a donation to help cover their 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 updates were made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as WordPress changes quite frequently and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website or blog 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 or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for you 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 specific criteria, 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:
WordPress Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and well known WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme creators showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 15,000 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view all 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 bloggers and political blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes for visual galleries, ebook authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to travel, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv 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. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for boutiques, trades or professionals (electricians, engineering, 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, 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 lots of quality premium WP themes in the ThemeForest theme directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can search through thousands of 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 WordPress themes 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 great premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market theme directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to see more themes at Mojo.com)
Mojo is a directory for premium-quality 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WordPress themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s turn our attention to commercial and independent theme shops.
Commercial WP Theme Developers
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of professional quality premium WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to browse all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs eye-catching premium themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire WordPress theme collection.
(click on the above images to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in 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 above images to see all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, 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 consistently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure that themes remain 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 way 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 themes from StudioPress 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 above images to see more StudioPress themes)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That – WP Theme And Plugin Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme search tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins 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 is being used on the site.
Tip: If you don’t know if a site uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website is WordPress-driven: Is Your Web Site Powered By 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 the site is powered by WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn how to use this tool go here: Does My Web Site Run On WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
We said this earlier and it’s worth repeating it again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known method used by a number of hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites and directories 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 display on Google for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org directory, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site could contain malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform 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 then presents you with a report with the results …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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