Tag: Premium WP Themes

In an earlier post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then go here to read the article: An Overview of WordPress Themes

In this blog post, we explain where you can discover loads of professional free and paid themes for your WP 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 avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poor theme coding.

As we’ve explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a special type of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven websites and designed to work specifically for WordPress.

Many skilled web designers and website design companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community enjoy access to thousands of quality WordPress themes covering a wide-range of uses and applications.

Finding Great Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide

If you were to open up Google and type the following:

• best themes for WordPress
• best premium themes for WordPress
• best responsive WordPress themes for writers (type in whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk 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 WordPress themes really 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 a different post. To keep things simple, please note that we will only be focusing on 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 website.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that typically, you’ll find both Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free WP themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be made available to users as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces Commercial And Independent Theme Vendors

There are mostly two kinds of places where you can find WordPress themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme stores.

WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are big theme aggregators. 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 directory.

Some of the bigger marketplaces 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 developers typically design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Many commercial theme developers 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 WP theme directories .

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

Choosing The Best WP Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WP Themes Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to find WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WordPress 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 place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.

The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your site, but it also relies on a review team comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with high quality and security standards.

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

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

Find WP Themes Inside Your WP Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WordPress admin panel with a couple of clicks.

Use Theme Feature Filters

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 easier to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with a light colour 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” WordPress themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed correctly on all devices (e.g. your PC, smartphone and tablet) …

You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …

… and bring up only WP themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress 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 offer a number of built-in customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The downside 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 developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes ask users 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 well over a year since any changes were last made, then you should think twice about using it, as WordPress is frequently updated and these changes can create conflicts or errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website 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 a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded 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.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to finding paid themes.

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

Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 premium WP 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 general blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes for photography, writing professionals, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, buy & sell, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, restaurants, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 stores, trades or professionals (electricians, medical practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political 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 quality premium themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace 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 WP themes in its marketplace, 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 great WP themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market themes directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to see all WordPress themes at Mojo)

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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories from the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo

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

Commercial Theme Design Houses

SoloStream

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

(click on above images to see more themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs stunning premium themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offers a membership option that lets you access their entire theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

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

(click on the above images to see all themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users 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 website developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it always remains 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 “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 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 view all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

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

What WP Theme Is That? WP Theme Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a website or blog uses (including parent and child WordPress themes).

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

Tip: If you can’t tell if a site was built using WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a website uses the WordPress CMS platform: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WordPress-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 whether or not a site is built on WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any plugins detected.

• To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Is My Website WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin

A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A commonly-used tactic employed by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute modified themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress directory, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.

If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may contain malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin Site)

I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WP useful.

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