In an earlier post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WP themes and what makes WP themes unique, then make sure to check out our article: An Overview of WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where you can find loads of excellent free and paid themes for your website. 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 experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previous article, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many web designers and web development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of unique WP themes designed to cover many website uses.
Finding Responsive Themes For WordPress: Let’s Simplify Things!
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and type key phrases like this:
- best premium WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best paid WordPress themes for business (enter whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in the 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 explain these differences in a later post. To keep things simple, we’ll only be focusing 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 web design.
Free vs Paid WordPress Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes 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.
WordPress Theme Marketplaces vs WP Theme Agencies
There are 2 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 theme development firms.
WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are big 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 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 theme design companies typically will develop both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme design companies.
As you will see, many commercial or independent theme design firms 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 WP theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best WP themes for your website.
Choosing Great Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WordPress Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to search for WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as many free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and place 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 site, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme in the directory meets specific standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Look For Free Themes Inside Your Own WP Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress theme 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 dashboard with just a few clicks.
Use Theme Filtering
WordPress has a built-in 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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly blue colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the post mentioned earlier 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 without problems on all devices (e.g. the laptops, smartphones and tablets used by visitors to browse your website) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …
… and find only themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside 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 developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation 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 a year since any updates were made, then think twice about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your website 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 money on premium themes. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and for your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding premium WordPress themes.
Premium 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 great 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 largest and most popular WordPress 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 (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to see more themes on ThemeForest)
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 blog magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for photography, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, classifieds, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, dining out, 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. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for specialty stores, trades or professionals (plumbers, dentists, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage celebrant blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, parenting 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 WordPress themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse thousands of 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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WordPress themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to view all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace 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 search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by selecting the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme design companies.
Commercial And Independent WP Theme Development Firms
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see all themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs eye-catching themes and offer a membership option that allows you access to their entire theme collection.
(click on the images above to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in creating WP 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 view more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework that enables users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key 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 the framework regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure that it always remains compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you 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 framework and gives your site its unique design.
If this all 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 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 browse more themes from StudioPress)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That? – WP Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free WordPress theme-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme a site uses.
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the site uses.
Tip: If you don’t know if a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a site was built using WordPress: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Was Built Using The WordPress CMS Platform
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 was built using WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn how to use this tool go here: How To Tell If A Website Was Built With WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
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 repository.
A well-known strategy used by many hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress directory, or use well-known and trusted 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, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WP theme files. This plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin, WordPress.org)
We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WordPress free and commercial themes useful.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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