Tag: WordPress Themes

In a previous post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about WordPress themes and what makes WP themes so revolutionary in terms of website design, then go here to read the post: An Overview of WordPress Themes

In this article, you will learn where to search for free and paid themes for your WordPress 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 product support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a unique type of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many skilled web designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of uniquely-designed WordPress themes designed to cover many purposes.

Where To Find Great Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?

If you were to open up Google and type the following:

• best responsive WP themes
• best paid themes for WordPress
• best paid WordPress themes for business (or 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 your life easier, we’ll just cut through the clutter and make the process of finding great WP themes simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different post. For now, we’ll 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 the design of your blog.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are sold as Premium (paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces And Directories & WP Theme Agencies

There are two kinds of places where WordPress themes can be found. The first place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme shops.

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

Some of the larger directories 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 vendors can also design both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme development companies.

Many commercial or independent theme design houses 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 great WP themes for your website or blog.

Finding WordPress Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WP Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to search for free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as many free software users have discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.

The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WordPress site, but it also uses a review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Directory, go here:

http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes

Find WordPress Themes Inside Your WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Use WordPress 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 easy to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with a blue color design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how these allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. your visitors’ laptops, smartphones and tablets) …

You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …

… and bring back only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and provide a number of customizable features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The ”cons” of using free WP 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 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 more than 1 year since any change was last made, then we advise you to think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and this can result in conflicts or errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your site 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 theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for your site and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free WP themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to finding premium themes.

Premium 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 ongoing support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WP Theme Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and well known WordPress theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,500 premium themes listed (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 themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for portfolios, ebook authors, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to directory listings, dining out & restaurants, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, nightlife, 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. commercial property, etc.)
• Retail – themes for retail stores, trades or professionals (electricians, legal firms, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, newsletters, 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 emails you theme update notifications)

Browse lots of great WP themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can search through thousands of 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Magazine or Commerce themes, etc.) using their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to browse all WP themes at Mojo.com)

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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo themes marketplace here:

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme vendors.

Commercial Theme Vendors

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.

(click on images above to browse more SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates eye-catching premium themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their WordPress theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront creates amazing 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 all themes from StoreFront)

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 website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many website developers like this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework regularly updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that themes remain always 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 using the Genesis framework 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 design.

If this all sounds 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 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 above images to see more themes from StudioPress)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

Let’s finish this article with some useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WordPress Theme Is That?

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

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 website.

Tip: If you can’t tell if a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site uses the WordPress CMS platform: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On WP Software

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 the site is powered by WordPress software, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any WordPress plugins detected.

• To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
• To learn how to use this tool go here: Was My Website Built With WordPress? Tell-Tale Signs & WordPress-Checking Tools

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin

We said this before and it’s worth repeating 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 well-known method used by a number of hackers and networks that engage in cyber-crime is to put up sites 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 display on search engine results for search 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 reputable theme download sites.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site could contain malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and then outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: WordPress.org Plugin Page)

I hope that you have found this information useful.

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