Tag: Free WordPress Themes

In an earlier post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes unique, then go here to read our article: A Newbies’ Guide To Understanding WordPress Themes

In this blog post, we show you where to find many great 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 make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid having to deal with problems like lack of support and poor theme coding.

As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a unique kind of web design template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed to work specifically in the WP platform.

Many website designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of quality WordPress themes covering an extensive range of applications.

Finding Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!

If you were to open up Google and search for something like the following:

• best themes for WordPress
• best premium themes for WordPress
• best responsive WordPress themes for writers (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search results.

So, to help you save time and make things easier, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WordPress themes simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another post. For now, please note that we will only focus on finding 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 blog.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories & Theme Stores

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

Theme marketplaces and theme directories are big theme aggregators. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)

Commercial and independent theme vendors typically will develop both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design 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 directories .

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

Choosing The Best Responsive Themes For Your WP Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to find free WordPress themes. 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 put your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress.org directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WP site, but it also uses a theme review team to review and ensure that each theme in the directory meets high quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, 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.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 only a couple of mouse clicks.

Use The 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 Colours, Layout and Features …

This makes it easier to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly blue colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the article mentioned earlier 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 across all devices (e.g. your laptop, tablet and smartphone) …

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 themes that use “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that there is no cost 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 features, 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 you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask for donations to help cover costs of providing support.

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over a year since any changes were made, then we advise you to think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and new features can result in conflicts or errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still relatively 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 money on a paid theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for your site and for converting 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 finding premium WP themes.

Premium 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 Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme designers to 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 above images to browse all themes on ThemeForest)

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 personal blogs and activism blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes for portfolios, crafts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites about directory listings, dining out & restaurants, community resources, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, cafes, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching 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 beauty products, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal firms, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to apps, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political issues, 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 WP themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can search through 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 marketplace, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Minimal or Business themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market themes directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

Mojo is a marketplace 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial WordPress theme design companies.

Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Design Houses

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 browse all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional themes and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront specializes in creating 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 view more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that enables users to 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 frequently up-to-date to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that themes are always 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 themes built using the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.

If this all sounds way 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 themes from StudioPress is that one low price entitles 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 see more themes from StudioPress)

WordPress Theme-Checking Tools

Here are some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WordPress Theme Is That.com

What WordPress Theme Is That is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website or blog 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 don’t know whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell whether or not a site was built using WordPress: How To Check If A 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 a site was built using WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used and list any WordPress plugins it detects.

• To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn how to use this tool go here: How To Tell If A Web Site Was Built Using WordPress

Theme Authenticity Checker - WordPress Plugin

We said this before and it’s worth repeating it again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A well-known method used by a number of hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org directory, or use well-known and trusted sites.

If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of injected code and presents you with a report …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: WordPress.org Plugin Site)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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