Tag: Premium WP Themes

In a previous article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress themes and what makes WordPress themes so attractive to web site owners, then make sure to check out our post: An Overview of WP Themes

In this article, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your WP site. You will also learn about the different types of WP 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 customer support and poor coding.

As we’ve explained in our previously-mentioned article, a WordPress theme is a unique kind of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed specifically on WordPress.

Many talented web designers and website development houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of great WP themes designed to cover a wide range of website uses.

Finding Themes: Let’s Keep It Simple!

If you were to go to Google and search for the following:

• best premium themes for WordPress
• best free themes for WordPress
• best paid WordPress themes for business (enter whatever your business, search topic or website is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in your search listings.

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 WordPress 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 later post. In this post, let’s just be covering 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 Themes

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

Theme Marketplaces & Theme Vendors

There are 2 kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme shops.

WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress 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 customers shop for 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 theme design companies typically will create both free and paid WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Most commercial theme companies 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 WordPress theme directories .

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

Where To Find Responsive WP 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 find free WP themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as many free software users have learned– 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 WP directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your site, but it also uses a theme review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets 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

Look For Free WordPress Themes Inside Your Own WP Dashboard

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

Use WordPress Theme Filters

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 easier to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with a pink color 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 allow your site to be viewed correctly across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …

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

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of 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 you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes will ask you for a donation to help cover support costs.

When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over 1 year since any updates were last made, then think twice about using it, as WordPress changes quite often and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website is still quite 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 paid themes or even on custom theme design. 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 WP themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid WordPress 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 great support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,500 premium WordPress themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes for visual galleries, writers, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about directory listings, 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 gossip blogs, nightlife, 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. home sales, etc.)
• Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (repairers, legal firms, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, 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 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)

Go here to find great WP themes in the ThemeForest site:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can browse 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Blog or Commerce themes, etc.) from the site’s 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 above images to view all 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily find WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find great premium WP themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme development firms.

Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Developers

SoloStream

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

(click on above images to view more SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs eye-catching premium themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes specializes in creating 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 images above to see more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many web developers like this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it is always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you 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 look and feel.

If this sounds way too technical, don’t worry 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 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 some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Search Tool

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a site is using (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 the website or blog is using.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a web site was built using WordPress: How Can I Check If My Site Was Built Using 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 whether or not a site was built using WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any WordPress plugins detected.

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

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WordPress Plugin

We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating it again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A tactic that is commonly used by a number of hackers and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes 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 for 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 established and reputable theme vendors.

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

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

I hope that you have found this information useful.

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