In a separate post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes WP themes so special, then go here to read our post: An Overview of WordPress Themes
In this article, we show you where to search for free and paid themes for your WP site. You will also learn about the different types of WP theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-powered blogs and designed to work specifically in WordPress.
Many individual web designers and website design companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users have access to thousands of uniquely-designed WP themes covering a wide-range of uses.
Where To Find WP Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like this:
- best free WP themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for artists (or whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in the 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 WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate post. In this post, we’ll only be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your website.
Free vs Paid WordPress Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Directories & WP Theme Development Firms
There are mostly two kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large theme stores. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme stores typically will develop both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme developer, to large theme design and development companies.
Many commercial theme design firms 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great WP themes for your website or blog.
Where To Find Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WordPress Themes Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to download 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 discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and place 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 uses a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with specific quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Directory, 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 WordPress 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 dashboard with just a couple of clicks.
Use Theme Filters
WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easy to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly dark color design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another post where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed correctly on all devices (e.g. your laptop, smartphone and tablet) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and display only themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in 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 it’s unrealistic to expect the developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes ask 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 a year since any changes were last made, then we advise you to think carefully about downloading it, as WordPress changes quite frequently and new features can create conflicts and errors with older code.
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 any money on paid themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for your site and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to premium WP themes.
Paid 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and best-known WP theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to see all ThemeForest themes)
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 activism blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for video galleries, galleries, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to travel, buy & sell, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for gossip 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. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for specialty stores, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling 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 emails you theme update notifications)
Go here to find great premium themes in the ThemeForest directory:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to browse more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can browse thousands of 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and search through their theme categories using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to see more Mojo themes)
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 WordPress themes, but you can easily go through all of their WordPress themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WP themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme design companies.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Stores
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 stunning themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the images above to see more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in creating e-commerce themes for WordPress. Their themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to see more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets users quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key 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 the framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes remain always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you 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 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 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 images above to view all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a few more useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme a site is using (including parent and child WordPress 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 uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell whether or not a website was built using WordPress: Is My Site 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 a site has been built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used and list any WP plugins it detects.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about using this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Runs On The WordPress CMS Platform
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
We said this before and it’s worth repeating again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A well-known tactic used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WordPress themes from the official WordPress.org theme repository, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme 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 perform a scan of your WP theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and outputs a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Source: WordPress.org Plugin Site)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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