In a previous article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WordPress themes and what makes themes so special, then make sure to check out this article: A Beginner’s Guide To WordPress Themes
In this blog post, we will show you where you can look for free and paid themes for your site. 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 having to deal with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another post, a theme is a special kind of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically in the WP content management system.
Many website designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community have access to thousands of uniquely-designed themes covering a wide-range of applications.
Finding WP Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and search for a key phrase like this:
- best free WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best free WordPress themes for artists (or whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in the search listings.
So, to help you save time and make your life easier, let’s just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different article. For now, we’ll only be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your website.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces vs Theme Stores
There are two different types of places where themes can be found. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent theme companies.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
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 agencies typically will create both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme developer, to large theme design and development companies.
Most commercial theme shops 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 find the best WordPress themes for your blog.
Finding The Best Responsive Themes For Your WordPress Website
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WP Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to download WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WP theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as many free software users have learned– 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 WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also relies on a theme review team to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find Themes Inside Your Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WP admin panel with a few mouse clicks.
Use WP 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 easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a orange colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another post where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed correctly on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and find only themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WP 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 features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The ”cons” to 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 urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover costs of providing support and updates, bug fixes, etc..
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than 1 year since any updates were last made, then you should think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and this can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still quite new, it’s a good idea to start with 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 or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for your site and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to paid WordPress 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 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 marketplaces online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to see all themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and green living blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for photography, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, dining out & restaurants, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, music venues, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal firms, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to apps, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice 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 sends you theme update notifications)
Browse lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can search through many 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 WordPress themes in its marketplace, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market themes directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a directory for premium-quality 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using 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 WP theme marketplaces, let’s look at commercial theme design houses.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Developers
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 images above to browse all themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs stunning themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and offer a membership option that gives you access to their entire theme collection.
(click on the above images to view more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes 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 view all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for your 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 this framework regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure that themes remain always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you may 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 framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this 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 images above to browse more themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this article with a few more useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That?
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free web tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme a website uses.
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the website.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site was built using WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a site uses WordPress: Is Your Site Powered By 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 using WordPress, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn how to use this tool go here: How To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known strategy used by many hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites 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 display on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress theme repository, or use well-known and reputable theme download sites.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could contain malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin Site, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WordPress free and paid responsive themes useful.
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