In a separate post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WP themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of website design, then make sure to check out the article here: A Practical Guide To Understanding WP Themes
In this blog post, we explain where to look for free and paid themes for your WordPress site. 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 poor coding.
As we’ve explained in our previous post, a WordPress theme is a special type of web design template used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed to work specifically on WordPress.
Many individual website designers and website design firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of quality themes covering an extensive range of uses.
Where To Find Themes: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
If you were to browse over to Google and search for key phrases like this:
- best free themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best paid WordPress themes for musicians (type in whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in your search listings.
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 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 cover these differences in another article. For now, please note that we will only cover 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 Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be listed as Premium (paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Marketplaces vs Theme Design Houses
There are mostly two kinds of places where WordPress themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme shops.
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 customers shop 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 WP theme shops can also design both free and commercial WordPress 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 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 WP themes for your blog.
Choosing WP Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WP Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to search for free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason why, is because –as some free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and put 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 review team to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find Themes Inside Your WP Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress 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 inside your WP admin panel with a couple of clicks.
Use The WordPress Theme Feature Filter
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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a dark color design, with a 3-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” WP themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. the laptops, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to view your information) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and bring back only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs you nothing to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of built-in 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 developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many 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 1 year since any updates were made, then you should think twice about using it, as WordPress changes quite often and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website 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 premium themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for you and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.
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 requirements, let’s turn our attention to premium WordPress themes.
Premium WordPress 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:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to see 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 bloggers and news editorials, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, crafts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, holiday rentals, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for music and bands 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. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for boutiques, trades or professionals (plumbers, engineering, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and 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 themes in the ThemeForest themes directory:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace 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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s look at commercial and independent theme vendors.
Commercial WP Theme Design Companies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of professional quality 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 eye-catching themes and offer a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their WP theme collection.
(click on the images above to browse more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in 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 above images to browse more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to 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 prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework frequently 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 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, there’s no need to feel concerned 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 just 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 more StudioPress themes)
WordPress Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this post with a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WP Theme Is That WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a site uses (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 WordPress theme is being used on the website.
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 if a site is WP-driven: How Can I Tell If My 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 not only confirm whether or not the site is powered by WordPress, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used and list any WP plugins detected.
- To use the online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
We said this earlier and it’s worth repeating it again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A strategy that is commonly used by a number of hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WordPress 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 key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and reputable sites.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. This plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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