In an earlier article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WordPress themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out the post here: A Newbies’ Guide To WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where you can look for free and paid themes for your WordPress 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 experiencing problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a unique kind of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed specifically with the WordPress CMS platform in mind.
Many individual website designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of quality WordPress themes designed to cover a wide range of purposes.
Finding Themes: How To Avoid Information Overload
Let’s say you were to open up Google and type the following:
- best paid themes for WordPress
- best free themes for WordPress
- best free WordPress themes for writers (or whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information 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 WP themes 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 explain these differences in another article. In this post, let’s just be focusing on 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 the design of your blog.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes for WordPress are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be sold as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories Commercial And Independent Theme Developers
There are two kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme development firms.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large aggregators of themes. 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 larger theme stores 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 WP theme shops typically will design both free and commercial WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme design and development companies.
Many 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 the best themes for your website or blog.
Where To Find A Great Theme Themes For Your WordPress Website
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to find WP themes for free. 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 learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can place 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 uses a review team to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets specific 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
You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WP Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org 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 few clicks.
Use The WP Theme Feature Filter
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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly dark color design, with a 3-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” themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed correctly across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and find only WordPress 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 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 settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to using free 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 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 made, then think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and this can result in conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your site 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 premium themes or even on custom web design. 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 ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid WP 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known WordPress theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators 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 above images to see all ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and administration sites, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for portfolios, writers, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, buy & sell, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, dining out, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. retina-ready 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 shops, trades or professionals (repairers, medical practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice 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 great WordPress themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace here:
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 search through 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WordPress themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to browse all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace 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 themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories from the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WP themes in the Mojo themes marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s turn our attention to commercial WordPress theme developers.
Commercial Theme Design Companies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to view more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates functional premium themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offers a membership option that allows members to access all themes in their growing WordPress theme collection.
(click on the above images to view more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront creates gorgeous 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 above images to browse all StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you 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 web developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework consistently up-to-date to reflect best coding practices and to ensure 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 StudioPress themes 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 design.
If this sounds 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 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 browse all StudioPress themes)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That? – WP Theme And Plugin Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free WP theme-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a site uses (including parent and child themes).
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme the site uses.
Tip: If you don’t know whether a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site was built using WordPress: Does My Site Run On 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 then not only confirm if a site is built using WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used and list any 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 Your Site Was Built With WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known tactic used by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress.org directory, or use well-known and trusted theme vendors.
If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and then outputs 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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