Tag: Free Themes

In an earlier post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes WordPress themes unique, then make sure to check out our post here: An Overview of WP Themes

In this article, we explain where you can explore many fantastic free and paid themes for your WordPress website or blog. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress 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 explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a unique kind of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed specifically for WordPress.

Many website designers and web development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community have access to thousands of uniquely-designed themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.

Where To Find Great Themes: How To Avoid Information Overload

Let’s say you were to open up Google and type the following:

• best free WP themes
• WordPress themes free
• best responsive WordPress themes for authors (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in your search results.

So, to help you save time and make your life easier, let’s just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WP themes really simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we start, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate post. For now, we’ll only be covering 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 areas of your site.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

Next, it’s important to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be made available to users as Premium (paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories Commercial And Independent Theme Shops

There are two different types of places where you can find WordPress themes. The first place is in WP theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme vendors.

WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are large aggregators of themes. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

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 WordPress theme design houses can create both free and premium WordPress 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 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 search for the best themes for your website.

Where To Find The Best Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WordPress Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to download WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WordPress site, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and make sure that each theme listed in the directory meets high quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Directory, go here:

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

Search For Free WordPress Themes Inside Your Own WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org 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 admin panel with only a few mouse clicks.

Use WordPress Theme Feature Filters

WordPress has a built-in 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 themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another post where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will work on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …

… and bring back only WP themes that are “responsive” …

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. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The ”cons” of 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 immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask users 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 more than 1 year since any changes were last made, then think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and these changes can result in conflicts or errors with older code.

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 a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to premium WordPress 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 ongoing 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 best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme creators showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 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 general blogs and blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for portfolios, ebook authors, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about employment opportunities, dining out & restaurants, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, cafes, 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 travel, trades or professionals (electricians, legal practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, 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 emails you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of great WordPress themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

(click on the above images to see all Creative Market themes)

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse many 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Commerce themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the images above to browse all Mojo themes)

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 WordPress themes, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Blog or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo directory here:

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme directories, let’s look at commercial and independent WP theme development firms.

Commercial And Independent WP Theme Agencies

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality premium WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.

(click on images above to browse all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs great themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and offer a membership option that allows members access to all themes in their growing WP theme portfolio.

(click on the images above to view all themes from WooThemes)

StoreFront

StoreFront 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 view all themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress builds 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 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 this 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 ensure 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the framework and gives your site its unique design.

If this sounds way too technical, don’t worry about it. StudioPress themes are very 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 browse all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

Here are some useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WP Theme Is That? WP Theme Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website uses.

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme the website or blog is using.

Tip: If you don’t know if a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell whether or not a website was built using WordPress: How Can I Tell If A Web Site Was Built With 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 if a site is powered by the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins detected.

• To use the online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Does My Blog Run On WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin

A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A commonly-used strategy employed by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute modified themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and trusted theme vendors.

If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could be infected with malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of injected code and outputs a report …

(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find great WP free and commercial responsive themes useful.

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