In an earlier post, 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 our article: About WordPress Themes – A Handy Guide
In this blog post, you will learn where to search for free and paid themes for your WP 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 avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another post, a theme is a special type of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed to work specifically on the WordPress platform.
Many website designers and website development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of great WordPress themes designed to cover many purposes and needs.
Finding WordPress Themes: Too Much Information … Where To Begin?
If you were to browse over to Google and search for the following:
- best free WordPress themes
- best premium themes for WordPress
- best paid WordPress themes for churches (enter whatever your business, area of interest or website is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in the 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 need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a separate post. To keep things simple, we’ll only cover the topic of finding 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 the design of your site.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid 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 listed as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories & WordPress Theme Stores
There are mostly two different types of places where WP themes can be found. The first place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme houses.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress 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 visitors find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
Some of the bigger 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 vendors typically design both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme development companies.
As you will see, most commercial or independent theme design firms 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 the best themes for your website or blog.
Finding WP Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WP Themes Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to find free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 put 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 website, but it also uses a review team to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with their quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Search For Free Themes Without Leaving Your Own WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP admin panel with a couple of mouse clicks.
Use The WordPress Theme Feature Filter
WordPress provides a filtering function inside the admin area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light 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 discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. the computers, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to browse your site) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and display only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs you nothing to download and use the theme on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to 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 urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes will ask you for a donation to help cover costs of providing support.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than 1 year since any change was made, then we advise you to think twice about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still quite 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 premium themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free 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 WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding premium 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, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WP Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular WordPress theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme creators showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,000 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse more ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific 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 advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for visual galleries, cv and resume writing, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites about employment opportunities, holiday rentals, social directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching 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 shopping, trades or professionals (electricians, 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 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)
Go here to browse many great premium themes in the ThemeForest site:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can search through 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 directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes 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 WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to browse all 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 find WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s look at commercial theme developers.
Commercial Theme Development Firms
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality premium WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to browse more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs great themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offers a membership option that allows you access to all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the above images to see all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in WordPress themes for e-commerce. Their themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to see all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many website 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 coding practices and to ensure that it always remains compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you may have made to your theme.
This is because themes built with the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this all sounds way 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 see more themes from StudioPress)
WordPress Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website or blog is using.
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 or blog is using.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell whether or not a website was built using WordPress: Is My Web 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 not only confirm whether or not the site is powered by WordPress software, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used by the site and list any plugins it detects.
- To use the online 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 - Plugin
We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A well-known strategy used by a number of hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress repository, or use established and trusted sites.
If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site 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 searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and then presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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