Tag: Premium WP Themes

In a previous article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using themes and what makes WordPress themes so special, then make sure to check out our post: Understanding WordPress Themes – A Beginner’s Guide

In this article, we explain where you can discover loads of wonderful free and paid themes for your WP site. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid dealing with problems like lack of product support and poor coding.

As explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-powered websites and designed specifically with the WordPress CMS platform in mind.

Many individual web designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of professional WordPress themes covering an extensive range of applications.

Finding Responsive Themes For WordPress: Let’s Keep Things Simple!

Let’s say you were to fire up Google and search for key phrases like the following:

• best themes for WordPress
• WordPress themes free
• best free WordPress themes for musicians (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 things easier, let’s 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 should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another article. For now, please note that we will only cover 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 site.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

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

Theme Marketplaces And Directories & Theme Developers

There are 2 places where you can find WordPress themes. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WP theme shops.

Theme marketplaces and theme directories are big aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

Some of the bigger 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 WP theme design houses typically will develop both free and commercial WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design companies.

Most commercial theme shops sell 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 WP themes for your website.

Finding Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to search for WordPress themes for free. 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 WP directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also uses a theme review team to review and ensure that each theme in the directory complies with high quality and security standards.

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

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

Find WP Themes Inside Your WordPress 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 inside your WordPress admin panel with a couple of 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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a light color design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the post where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. the computers, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to browse your site) …

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

… and bring back only themes that use “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and provide a number of built-in customizable features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The downside 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 dedicated 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.

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 twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still quite 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 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 narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to premium 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the biggest and best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium WP themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and e-magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, arts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, nightlife, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 (electricians, chiropractors, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and 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 emails you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of quality premium themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse many 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to see more WP themes at Mojo.com)

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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial theme development firms.

Commercial WordPress Theme Development Firms

SoloStream

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

(click on images above to view all SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their growing WP theme collection.

(click on the above images to view more WooThemes themes)

StoreFront

StoreFront specializes in creating e-commerce themes for WordPress. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.

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

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a 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 your 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 regularly up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes are always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework 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 a paint job that sits 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 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 all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

Let’s finish this article with a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WordPress Theme Is That? – WordPress Theme Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WordPress theme and plugin search tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website is using.

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the website uses.

Tip: If you can’t tell if a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a web site is powered by WordPress: Is Your Web 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 if the site has been built using WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins it detects.

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

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We said this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A strategy that is commonly used by a number of hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WordPress themes from the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use established and trusted theme vendors.

If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may be infected with malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and outputs a report …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and paid responsive themes for WordPress useful.

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