Tag: Premium WP Themes

In another 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: Understanding WordPress Themes – A Guide For Website Owners

In this blog post, we explain where you can discover loads of wonderful free and paid themes for your WordPress website. 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in our previous article, a theme is a special kind of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically for WordPress.

Many talented website designers and web design firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of great themes covering a wide-range of uses.

Finding Great WP Themes: Let’s Keep It Simple!

Let’s say you were to open up Google and search for the following:

• best free themes for WordPress
• best free themes for WordPress
• best paid WordPress themes for business (or whatever your business, area of interest or website is about)

You are probably 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 WP themes really simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a later article. For now, let’s just be covering the topic of finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over your web design.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

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

WordPress Theme Directories vs Theme Vendors

There are mostly two types of places where WordPress themes can be found. 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 vendors.

WP 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 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 developers typically will design both free and commercial WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme development companies.

Many commercial theme stores 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 directories .

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

Finding WordPress 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 free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason for this, is because –as some free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.

The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers to review and make sure that each theme in the directory complies with specific standards of quality and security.

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

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

Search For Free WordPress Themes Without Leaving Your Own WordPress Dashboard

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

Use Theme Feature Filter

WordPress provides a 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 dark colour design, with a three-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems 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 up only WordPress themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

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

The downside of 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 immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free 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 more than a year since any updates were made, then it’s best to think carefully about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

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 any money on a premium theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free 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 theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to paid WordPress themes.

Paid 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WP Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme directories online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting 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 WP themes in various categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and political blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, crafts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to employment opportunities, dining out & restaurants, social directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, restaurants, 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 specialty stores, trades or professionals (repairers, engineering, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, 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, 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)

Go here to find quality premium WordPress themes in the ThemeForest theme website:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can browse thousands of 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 WordPress themes in its marketplace, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Commerce themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of great premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market theme marketplace 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 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 WP themes, but you can easily go through all of their WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Responsive or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s look at commercial theme design companies.

Commercial Theme Design Houses

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium WP 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 great themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire WordPress theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes creates stunning 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 images above to see more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a 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 your content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many web developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework frequently updated to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure that it is 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 all 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 you pay one low price 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 browse more themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WordPress Theme Is That WP Theme Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a website is using (including parent and child themes).

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

Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to 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, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins detected.

• To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about this tool go here: How Can I Tell If A Web Site Was Built Using WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

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

A well-known tactic used by a number of hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute modified themes and plugins that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress directory, or use established and trusted theme download sites.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WP theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and presents you with a report with the results …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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