In a separate article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using themes and what makes themes so special, then go here to read the article: An Overview of WordPress Themes
In this blog post, we show you where to search for 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 avoid experiencing problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another article, a theme is a unique type of web template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with the WordPress platform in mind.
Many skilled web designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of professional-quality themes covering an extensive range of uses.
Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: Let’s Keep Things Simple!
Let’s say you were to launch Google and type the following:
- best free themes for WordPress
- best responsive WordPress themes
- best paid WordPress themes for writers (type in whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
Chances are that you are 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, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WP themes 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. In this article, let’s just be covering 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 web design.
Free vs Paid WordPress Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid WP 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 made available to users as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces And Directories Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Design Houses
There are 2 kinds of places where themes can be found. The first is in theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme houses.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are big theme aggregators. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
Some of the larger directories 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 shops can also develop both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme development companies.
As you will see, many commercial or independent theme companies 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 great WordPress themes for your website or blog.
Choosing A Theme Themes For Your WP Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress 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 WP themes. The reason for this, is because –as some 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 site, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets certain standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WP 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 inside your WP dashboard with only a few mouse clicks.
Use Theme Filters
WordPress provides a filtering function inside the admin 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 predominantly light colour design, with a 4-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” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed without problems across all devices (e.g. the PCs, smartphones and tablets used by visitors to browse your information) …
You should 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 Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free 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 provide a number of customizable settings, 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 it’s unrealistic to expect the theme developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes will ask you for a donation to help cover support costs.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over a year since any updates were made, then it’s best to 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 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 a premium theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding premium themes.
Premium 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and well known theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to view more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and blog magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes for design, cv and resume writing, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, classifieds, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for celebrity 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 specialty stores, trades or professionals (repairers, legal firms, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to apps, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor 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 premium themes in the ThemeForest directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can search through 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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WordPress themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view more WordPress themes at Mojo)
Mojo is a directory for premium-quality 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories by using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium WordPress themes in the Mojo themes directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s look at commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.
Commercial And Independent Theme Stores
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs functional themes and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their growing WP theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to see all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront creates beautiful 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 images above to browse more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework frequently updated to reflect best coding practices and to ensure that it always remains 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 with the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit 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 very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing StudioPress themes is that one low price allows 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 above images to view more themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free WordPress theme-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme a website or blog is using (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 can’t tell whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a web site was built using WordPress: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
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 if the site was built on WordPress, but it will also list the WP theme being used on the site and list any WordPress plugins it detects.
- To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about this tool go here: Does My Blog Run On WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating it again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A strategy that is commonly used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WordPress themes from the official WordPress.org directory, or use established and trusted theme download sites.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may be infected with malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WordPress free and premium responsive themes useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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