Tag: Free WordPress Themes

In another article, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WordPress themes so attractive to website owners, then go here to read the post: An Introduction to WP Themes

In this article, you will learn where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your website. 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in our previously-mentioned article, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many professional website designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of unique themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.

Finding Great WordPress Themes: Too Much Information … Where To Begin?

Let’s say you were to go to Google and search for a key phrase like the following:

• best free themes for WordPress
• WordPress themes free
• best paid WordPress themes for churches (type in whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized 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 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 different article. In this post, please note that we will 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 blog.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free WP themes are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be licensed for use as Premium (paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Directories & Theme Vendors

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

Theme marketplaces and 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 find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

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 can design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of developer, to large theme design and development companies.

Most commercial or independent 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 WordPress theme directories .

Let’s now show you where to search for great themes for your website.

Choosing The Best Themes For Your WordPress Website

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download free WP 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 put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and make sure that each theme listed in the directory meets certain standards of quality and security.

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

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

Find Themes Inside Your Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP dashboard with a few clicks.

Use WP Theme Feature Filter

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

Note: in another article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. the PCs, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to browse your website) …

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

… and bring up 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 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 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 theme developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes ask for donations to help cover their costs of providing support.

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over 1 year since any updates were made, then think carefully about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

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 any money on a theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what 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 ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid 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 great support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 15,000 premium WP themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …

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

If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and news editorials, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, writers, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, classifieds, community resources, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, dining out, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. responsive themes.
• NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.
• Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. rentals, etc.)
• Retail – themes for specialty stores, trades or professionals (repairers, medical centers, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage celebrant 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 themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

(click on the above images to browse more Creative Market themes)

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse thousands of quality premium WP 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 marketplace, but you can easily find WordPress themes and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Blog or Wedding themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

Mojo is a marketplace for premium 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial theme shops.

Commercial WordPress Theme Stores

SoloStream

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

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

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs stunning premium themes and offer a membership option that allows you access to all themes in their growing WP theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront specializes in 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 view all StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework that lets you 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 the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many website developers prefer using 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 practices for coding and to make sure that it is always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you 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 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 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 images above to view all StudioPress themes)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

Let’s finish this article with some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That.com

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

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 is using.

Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site is WordPress-driven: Is My Website Built With WordPress? Tell-Tale Signs & 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 then not only confirm whether or not the site is built on WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any WordPress plugins detected.

• To use this online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Was My Website Built With WordPress? Tell-Tale Signs & WordPress-Checking Tools

Theme Authenticity Checker - WordPress Plugin

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

A well-known strategy used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and distribute modified themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org repository, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could contain malware or unwanted code, 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 installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and then outputs a report …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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