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 themes so attractive to web site owners, then go here to read our article: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your WordPress 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 experiencing problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previous post, a theme is a special kind of web template that is used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed to work specifically for WordPress.
Many talented website designers and web design companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community enjoy access to thousands of professional-quality WordPress themes covering a wide-range of applications.
Where To Find Responsive Responsive Themes For WordPress: Let’s Simplify Things!
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like this:
- best WordPress themes
- best premium themes for WordPress
- best paid WordPress themes for artists (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information 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 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 cover these differences in another post. To keep things simple, please note that we will only focus on 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 aspects of your blog.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be made available to users as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces vs WordPress Theme Developers
There are 2 kinds of places where you can find WordPress themes. The first place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent theme companies.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large theme aggregators. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
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 developers can also develop both free and commercial WordPress 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 theme stores 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 the best themes for your blog.
Where To Find Great Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to find WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason why, is because –as some free software users have learned– 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.org 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 code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets specific standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WP Themes Inside Your Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org 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 couple of clicks.
Use The WordPress Theme Feature Filters
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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly dark colour design, with a four-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the article 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 work on all devices (e.g. the PCs, smartphones and tablets used by visitors to view your website) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …
… and display only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and provide a number of customizable features, 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 you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes will ask you for a donation 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 change was made, then think carefully about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your site 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 any money on premium themes or even on custom web design. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that 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 how to filter your search for themes that meet specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to paid themes.
Premium WordPress 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 ongoing support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium WordPress themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to browse more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, 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 corporate sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, arts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for fashion blogs, nightlife, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (electricians, dentists, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political 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)
Browse lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest themes marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can search through many 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WP themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to view all themes at Mojo)
Mojo is a directory 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 WP themes, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium WordPress themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial theme stores.
Commercial WP Theme Stores
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to view all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs great WP themes and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their WP theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to view 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 images above to browse more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework that lets users quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like 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 practices for coding and to ensure that it is always 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
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 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 images above to see all StudioPress themes)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That? – WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WordPress theme-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a website or blog is using (including parent and child WP 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 published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site was built using WordPress: Is It A WP Web Site?
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 if a site is powered by WordPress, but it will also list the WP theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins detected.
- To use this tool go 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 WordPress Software
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin
We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A well-known tactic used by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress directory, or use established and reputable theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could be infected with malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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