In a separate article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using themes and what makes WP themes so attractive to website owners, then go here to read our article: An Overview of WordPress Themes
In this article, we explain where you can search for free and paid themes for your website or blog. 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 how to avoid having to deal with problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in our previously-mentioned post, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many talented web designers and web design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community can access thousands of unique WordPress themes designed for a wide range of website uses.
Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Information Overload
Let’s say you were to go to Google and type the following:
- best WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for authors (or whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information 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 WP themes 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 another post. For now, please note that we will only focus 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 WP Themes
Next, it’s important to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories & WordPress Theme Vendors
There are mostly 2 places where you can find themes. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.
Theme marketplaces and 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 directory.
Some of the larger directories 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 WordPress theme development firms can design both free and commercial WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design companies.
As you will see, many commercial 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great themes for your website or blog.
Choosing A Theme 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 find WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 contain malicious code and put 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 WordPress site, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and make sure that each theme listed in the directory meets specific quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find Free WordPress Themes Inside Your Own 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 WordPress Theme Filters
WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the admin area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …
This makes it easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a pink color design, with a 3-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 responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. computers, tablets and smartphones) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and bring back only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. Additionally, 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 ”cons” 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 theme developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes will ask you for a donation 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 one year since any changes were made, then we advise you to think twice about using 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 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 any money on a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting 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 a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and blog magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for portfolios, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to employment opportunities, holiday rentals, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 health products, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical centers, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling 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)
Go here to browse many quality premium themes in the ThemeForest website:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to see all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory 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 directory, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WordPress themes crafted by independent WP theme developers in the Creative Market theme directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to see more themes at Mojo)
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 browse hundreds of WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WordPress themes in the Mojo theme marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial and independent WP theme vendors.
Commercial Theme Design Houses
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs eye-catching themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that allows you access to all themes in their WordPress theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to browse more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in WordPress themes for e-commerce. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the above images to browse all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework that lets users 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 prefer using this 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 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 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, 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 above images to browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Let’s finish this post with some useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WP Theme Is That? – WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme 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 WordPress theme is being used on the website.
Tip: If you don’t know if a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site uses the WP CMS platform: Is My Web Site 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 whether or not the site is built on WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used on the site and list any plugins detected.
- To use the 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) – WordPress 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 reviewed and approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A strategy that is commonly used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute modified themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress.org repository, or use well-known and reputable sites.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site may contain malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: Plugin)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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