In another post, 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 themes so special, then go here to read the post: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this blog post, we show you where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your WP 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 how to avoid dealing with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed to work specifically in the WP CMS platform.
Many skilled website designers and website development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of high quality themes covering an extensive range of uses.
Where To Find Great WordPress Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and search for a key phrase like the following:
- best WP themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for business (enter whatever your business, area of interest 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 WordPress themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different article. In this post, please note that we will only focus on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, which gives 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 can find thousands of Free and Paid themes being made available. Free 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 (paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces & WordPress Theme Development Firms
There are 2 kinds of places where themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme houses.
WP theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are big aggregators of themes. 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 marketplaces 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 WordPress theme development firms can also develop both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme design companies.
Most commercial or independent 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great themes for your website.
Where To Find The Best Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to find free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason why, is because –as some free software users have learned– 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 WP directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with specific quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Directory, 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 WordPress theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with just a couple of clicks.
Use The Theme 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 themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly blue colour 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” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. your laptop, 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 find only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with 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 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 free themes ask users for donations 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 carefully about downloading it, as WordPress is frequently updated and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website or blog 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 money on premium themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded 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 theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to premium themes.
Premium 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and well known WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium WP themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to view 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 bloggers and activism blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, dining out & restaurants, business directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 stores, trades or professionals (repairers, legal firms, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to apps, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and 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 emails you theme update notifications)
Browse lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can browse many 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 marketplace, but you can easily find WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Blog or Wedding themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to view more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a directory 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 WP themes, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent WP theme vendors.
Commercial Theme Design Companies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of professional quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to view all themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs great themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their WordPress theme collection.
(click on the above images to view all 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 browse all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets users 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 your 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 the framework frequently updated to reflect best coding practices and to ensure that themes are 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 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 look and feel.
If this sounds way 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 images above to browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this article with some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free web tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a site uses.
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme the website uses.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site was built using WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site is WP-driven: Is My Website Built With WordPress? How To Tell
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 was built using WordPress software, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used by the site and list any plugins it detects.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about this tool go here: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Blog And WP-Checking Tools
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – Plugin
We suggested this before and it’s worth repeating it again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A commonly-used tactic employed by many hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber-crime is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and then distribute modified 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 WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org directory, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin Page, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find great WordPress free and paid themes useful.
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