In an earlier post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes so attractive to website owners, then go here to read our post: A Useful Guide To WordPress Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where you can 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 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 type of web design template that is used on WordPress-powered blogs and designed specifically with the WP platform in mind.
Many skilled web designers and web design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community can access thousands of unique themes designed to cover many purposes.
Finding Great WP Themes: Let’s Keep It Simple!
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like the following:
- best free themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for business (or whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in your search listings.
So, to help you save time and make things easier, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WP themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different article. In this post, let’s just cover themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, 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 there are 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 licensed for use as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces vs WordPress Theme Developers
There are two kinds of places where themes can be found. The first is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.
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 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 stores can also create both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of designer, to large theme design companies.
Most commercial or independent theme design houses 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best WP themes for your website.
Finding 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 download free WP themes. 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 many 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 directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a review team to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of excellent 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 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 The 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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light color design, with a three-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” themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed without problems across all devices (e.g. the laptops, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to view your information) …
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 are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free 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 provide 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 WordPress 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 immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most 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 a year since any updates were made, then you should think twice about using it, as WordPress changes quite frequently and this can create conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website is still relatively 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 web design. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for you and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WP themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to premium WordPress 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 great support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,000 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view all 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 bloggers and green living blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, crafts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, buy & sell, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for gossip blogs, music venues, 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 beauty products, trades or professionals (electricians, chiropractors, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding 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 sends you theme update notifications)
Browse thousands of great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest themes marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to browse more themes at Mojo)
Mojo is a directory for premium 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo themes marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s turn our attention to commercial theme developers.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Vendors
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 images above to view more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs functional premium themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the images above to browse more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes creates beautiful e-commerce themes for WordPress. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the images above to view more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that lets you 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 like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework regularly updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure 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 a paint job that sits on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
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 StudioPress themes 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 see all StudioPress themes)
WordPress Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this post with a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WP Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website is using (including parent and child themes).
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the site uses.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website uses the WordPress CMS platform: Is My Website 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 not only confirm whether or not a site was built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used and list any WordPress plugins detected.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn more about using this tool go here: Is It A WP Site?
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A commonly-used tactic employed by a number of hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use well-known and trusted sites.
If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WP theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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