Tag: Free Themes

In a previous article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WordPress themes so special, then go here to read our article: A Newbies’ Guide To WordPress Themes

In this article, you will learn where to explore many excellent 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 ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid experiencing problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in our previous post, a theme is a unique kind of web template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed to work specifically for WordPress.

Many skilled web designers and web design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of professional-quality WordPress themes designed to cover many website uses.

Where To Find Responsive Themes For WordPress: Too Much Information … Where To Begin?

If you were to fire up Google and type the following:

• best free themes for WordPress
• best premium themes for WordPress
• best paid WordPress themes for business (type in whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)

You are probably 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, we’ll 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 should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a later post. In this article, please note that we will 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 aspects of your site.

Free vs Paid Themes

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

Theme Marketplaces And Directories Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Agencies

There are mostly 2 kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent theme stores.

Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large aggregators of themes. 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)

Commercial and independent theme developers typically will create both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme design companies.

As you will see, most commercial theme shops 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 find great themes for your website or blog.

Choosing Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to find WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason for this, is because –as many free software users have discovered– 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 WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also relies on a review team comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain standards of quality and security.

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

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

Find Themes Inside Your WP Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WP admin panel with just a couple of clicks.

Use WP Theme Filtering

WordPress has a built-in 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 a blue color design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you search across its entire database of free themes …

… and display only WordPress 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 come with a number of customizable features, 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. Most 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 over 1 year since any change was last 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, 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 paid themes. 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.org theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding premium WP themes.

Paid 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, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WP Theme Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

(click on the above images to see all themes on ThemeForest)

If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific themes in various categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and parenting blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for creative work, writing professionals, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, holiday rentals, social directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, restaurants, 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 health products, trades or professionals (electricians, medical centers, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political 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 lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

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

Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to browse more themes at Mojo.com)

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 find WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find great premium WordPress themes in the Mojo marketplace here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s turn our attention to commercial WP theme developers.

Commercial Theme Developers

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 see more SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates great themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their WordPress theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes creates amazing WP 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 browse more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you 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 like this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework consistently updated to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it always remains compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.

This is because themes built using 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 design.

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 above images to see all StudioPress themes)

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 And Plugin Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WordPress theme and plugin search tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a website is using.

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

Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a web site is powered by WordPress: Is It A WordPress Blog?

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 a site is powered by WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any plugins it detects.

• To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn how to use this tool go here: Is Your Site Powered By WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin

A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A commonly-used strategy employed by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress theme repository, or use well-known and reputable theme download sites.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could contain malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WP theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and outputs a report with the results …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and premium responsive themes for WordPress useful.

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