In a separate post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WP themes so revolutionary in terms of website design, then make sure to check out the article here: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your website or blog. 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 dealing with problems like lack of customer support and poor theme coding.
As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a unique type of web template that is used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many talented website designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of uniquely-designed WP themes covering a wide-range of uses.
Where To Find Great Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Information Overload
If you were to go to Google and search for the following:
- best free WP themes
- WordPress themes free
- best paid WordPress themes for musicians (type in whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in your search results.
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 a different article. For now, we’ll only cover 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 site’s web design.
Free vs Paid WordPress Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are listed as Premium (paid) themes.
WP Theme Directories Commercial And Independent WP Theme Design Houses
There are two kinds of places where WP themes can be found. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme stores.
WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
Some of the larger 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 WordPress theme design houses typically design both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of developer, to large theme design and development companies.
Many commercial or independent theme stores 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 find the best themes for your blog.
Finding The Best Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to download WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 … 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 team of theme reviewers to review and make sure that each theme in the directory meets certain quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress 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 theme 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 only a couple of mouse clicks.
Use Theme Filters
WordPress provides a 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 easy to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly pink color design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another post where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. the PCs, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to view your web content) …
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 bring up only WordPress themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs you nothing to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and offer 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 it’s unrealistic to expect the theme developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask for donations to help cover their support costs.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over one year since any updates were made, then we advise you to think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite frequently and this can create conflicts and 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 money on a paid theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for your site and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to paid WP themes.
Paid WP 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 ongoing support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,000 premium themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to view more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and green living blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, galleries, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to employment opportunities, classifieds, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for fashion blogs, nightlife, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. retina-ready themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical centers, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental issues, 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 emails you theme update notifications)
Browse thousands of great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to browse more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory 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 directory, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view more WP themes at Mojo.com)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium 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 (e.g. BuddyPress or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s look at commercial and independent theme shops.
Commercial And Independent Theme Shops
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs functional themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing WP theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to see more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in WP 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 view all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework frequently updated to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes remain always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes 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 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 very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing themes from StudioPress is that you pay just 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 see all themes from StudioPress)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free WordPress theme and plugin-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website or blog 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 WordPress theme is being used on the site.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a website uses WordPress: Is My Website Built With WordPress? Tell-Tale Signs & WP-Checking Tools
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 is built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use the online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about this tool go here: Is It A WordPress Blog?
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A commonly-used tactic employed by a number of hackers and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress repository, or use established and reputable theme vendors.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of your WP theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WordPress useful.
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