Tag: WordPress Themes Directory

In a separate post, we provide new WordPress users with 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 post here: A Newbies’ Guide To WP Themes

In this article, we show you where you can look for 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 dealing with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.

As explained in another article, a theme is a special type of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed specifically for the WordPress platform.

Many individual website designers and website design firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community have access to thousands of professional WordPress themes designed for many purposes.

Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?

Let’s say you were to launch Google and type something like the following:

• best free WP themes
• best premium WordPress themes
• best responsive WordPress themes for blogs (or whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in the 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 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 separate post. For now, please note that we will only cover the topic of finding 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 web design.

Free vs Paid Themes

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

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories vs Commercial WP Theme Development Firms

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

WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are big aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

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 WP theme developers can also create both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of designer, to large theme development companies.

Many 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 WordPress theme directories .

Let’s now show you where to find great WordPress themes for your blog.

Where To Find The Best Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WordPress Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to search for 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 discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress.org directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WP site, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain standards of quality and security.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress 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 directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and start using it directly from inside your WP admin panel with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Use WP Theme Feature 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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a light colour design, with a 2-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will work across all devices (e.g. your laptop, smartphone and tablet) …

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 display only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs you nothing 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 options, 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 it’s unrealistic to expect the theme developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes ask users for donations to help cover costs of providing support.

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 last made, then you should think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and new features can result in conflicts or errors with older code.

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 money on a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for you and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to paid WP 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular WordPress theme directories online.

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

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and activism blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes for visual galleries, cv and resume writing, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to directory listings, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, music venues, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. retina-ready 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 shopping, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental issues, 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Go here to browse many great WP themes in the ThemeForest theme site:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

(click on the images above to see all Creative Market themes)

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can search through many quality premium WordPress 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 themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to browse all Mojo themes)

Mojo is a directory 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 find themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme directories, let’s look at commercial WordPress theme development firms.

Commercial And Independent Theme Shops

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality premium 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 eye-catching themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their growing theme collection.

(click on the above images to view all themes from WooThemes)

StoreFront

StoreFront 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 all StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets users quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your 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 frequently updated to reflect best coding practices and to ensure that it is always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.

This is because themes built with the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the framework and gives your site its unique design.

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 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 browse all StudioPress themes)

Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That.com

What WordPress Theme Is That is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme a website uses (including parent and child WP themes).

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme the website is using.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site uses WordPress: Is My Blog 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 if the site has been built using the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used on the site and list any plugins it detects.

• To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
• To learn how to use this tool go here: Does My Site Run On WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – Plugin

A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A strategy that is commonly used by many hackers 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 modified themes and plugins that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results 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.org repository, or use established and reputable theme download sites.

If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may contain malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress theme files. The TAC plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and then presents you with a report with the results …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find great WP free and paid themes useful.

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