In another article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WP themes and what makes WordPress themes so special, then make sure to check out our post: About WP Themes – A Newbies’ Guide
In this blog post, you will learn where to discover many wonderful free and paid themes for your WordPress website or blog. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of product support and poor coding.
As we’ve explained in our previously-mentioned article, a theme is a unique type of web template that is used on WordPress-driven blogs and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many skilled website designers and web development houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community have access to thousands of unique WP themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.
Where To Find Great Themes For WordPress: Let’s Simplify Things!
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and type the following:
- best premium WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best free WordPress themes for authors (or whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information 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 WP themes really simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different article. In this article, let’s just be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over the design areas of your blog.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free WordPress themes are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be licensed for use as Premium (paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces vs Commercial WP Theme Vendors
There are mostly 2 places where you can find WP themes. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent theme shops.
WP theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are large 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 directory.
Some of the larger theme stores 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 agencies typically design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme design 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to find great themes for your website.
Where To Find Great WordPress 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 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 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 to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WP 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 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 inside your WordPress admin panel with a few clicks.
Use WP Theme Filtering
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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly orange colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. your PC, tablet and smartphone) …
You should 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 Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to using free 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 dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes ask for donations to help cover their costs of providing support.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been well over a year since any change was last made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated 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 premium themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free 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.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding premium themes.
Paid 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 theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium themes to choose from (some starting 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 general blogs and activism blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, galleries, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to employment opportunities, 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 celebrity 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. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for catalogs, trades or professionals (plumbers, engineering, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor 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 WordPress themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily find WordPress themes and narrow your search using theme categories using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to see all WP 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 WP themes, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. BuddyPress or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using 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 WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial WordPress theme development firms.
Commercial And Independent Theme Vendors
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to browse more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates eye-catching WordPress themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing WP theme collection.
(click on the images above to browse more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in creating 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 above images to see all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework frequently up-to-date 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 may 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 theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this all sounds way 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 one low price entitles 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 images above to browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That? – WordPress Theme And Plugin Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme and plugin search tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website uses.
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the site.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site uses WordPress: How Can I Check If My Website 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 if a site was built using the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used on the site and list any plugins detected.
- To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about using this tool go here: How Can I Tell If A Site Was Built With WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – Plugin
A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A method that is commonly used by a number of hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org directory, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.
If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site may be infected with malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WP theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and outputs a report …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin Site, WordPress.org)
We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WP useful.
***
"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
***