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 attractive to website owners, then make sure to check out this article: An Introduction to WP Themes

In this article, you will learn where you can discover loads of professional free and paid themes for your site. 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in another post, a theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many individual web designers and web development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional-quality themes covering a wide-range of uses and applications.

Where To Find Responsive WP Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide

Let’s say you were to open up Google and type key phrases like this:

• best free WP themes
• best paid WordPress themes
• best free WordPress themes for churches (enter 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 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 simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different post. For now, let’s just cover themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over your site’s web design.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

Next, it’s important to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be licensed for use as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces And Directories vs Theme Shops

There are two different types of places where themes can be found. The first place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme houses.

WP theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are large theme stores. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers shop 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 WordPress theme agencies typically will create both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme developer, to large theme development companies.

As you will see, many commercial or independent theme developers 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 WP themes for your website.

Where To Find A Great WordPress Theme For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to find WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme 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 contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with their quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official 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 WP theme in the WordPress.org 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 few clicks.

Use Theme Feature Filters

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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with a light colour design, with a three-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in an earlier article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you search across its entire database of free themes …

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

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of built-in customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The ”cons” 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 theme 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 and updates, bug fixes, etc..

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over 1 year since any change was made, then think carefully about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively 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 free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding premium themes.

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

WordPress Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 15,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …

(click on the above images to see more ThemeForest themes)

If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and activism blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites or advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for photography, arts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to employment opportunities, buy & sell, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, cafes, 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical centers, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse lots of quality premium themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can search through thousands of quality premium WP 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 WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Blog or Photography themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of great premium themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

Mojo is a marketplace for premium 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Magazine or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme developers.

Commercial WP Theme Developers

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 above images to view all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that lets you access their entire theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes specializes in creating WordPress 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 browse 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 designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many website developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework consistently 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 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, 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 one low price allows 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 above images to see all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are 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 WP theme and plugin search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website uses (including parent and child WP 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 website or blog is using.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site uses WordPress: Is It A WP Blog?

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 whether or not the site has been built using the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any plugins it detects.

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

Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin

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

A well-known method used by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for search 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 established and reputable theme vendors.

If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could contain malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress 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 with the results …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

I hope that you have found this information useful.

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