In another article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes WordPress themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out our article: An Overview of WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your website. 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 experiencing problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previous post, a theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many professional web designers and web design companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional themes designed for a wide range of website uses.
Finding Great WP Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and type a key phrase like the following:
- best free WP themes
- WordPress themes free
- best free WordPress themes for churches (type in whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the search listings.
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 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 explain these differences in another post. For now, we’ll only be covering the topic of 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 of your blog.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free WordPress themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are listed as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces & WP Theme Agencies
There are 2 kinds of places where WP themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme vendors.
WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are big theme stores. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers search for 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 WordPress plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme shops can also design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.
As you will see, many commercial or independent theme companies 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 the best themes for your blog.
Where To Find Great WordPress Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to find 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 many free software users have learned– 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 WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your site, but it also relies on a theme review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with just a few mouse clicks.
Use Theme Feature Filter
WordPress provides a filtering function inside the admin 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 pink colour design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed correctly on all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …
… and bring back only WP themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with 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 WordPress 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 free themes will ask you for a donation 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 made, then it’s best to think carefully about using it, as WordPress changes quite often and this can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website 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 any money on premium themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for you and for converting 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 your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid WordPress themes.
Paid 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WordPress Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and environmental blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for video galleries, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, holiday rentals, business directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, dining out, 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. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for catalogs, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor 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)
Browse thousands of quality premium WP themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market themes marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above 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 WP themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and search through their theme categories by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WP themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme vendors.
Commercial Theme Agencies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality WP 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 great premium themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that lets you access their entire WP theme portfolio.
(click on the above images to view all themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in creating WordPress themes for e-commerce. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to see all 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 an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like 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 themes remain always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you 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 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 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 above images to see all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WP Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme and plugin-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website is using.
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 or blog uses.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site was built using WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a website uses WordPress: Is My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell
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 if a site was built on WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used 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 this tool go here: Is My Blog WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin
We suggested this before and it’s worth repeating again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known tactic used by a number of hackers and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress repository, or use established and reputable sites.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and then outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: Plugin Page, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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