Tag: WordPress Themes

In a separate article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about WP themes and what makes WordPress themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out the post here: An Introduction to WP Themes

In this article, we will show you where to find many fantastic free and paid themes for your website or blog. 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 avoid dealing with problems like lack of product support and poor theme coding.

As explained in our previously-mentioned article, a theme is a unique kind of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed to work specifically on the WordPress platform.

Many professional website designers and web design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of unique themes designed for a wide range of purposes and needs.

Finding Great Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide

Let’s say you were to fire up Google and type the following:

• best WordPress themes
• WordPress themes free
• best free WordPress themes for blogs (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

You are probably 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 start, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different post. In this article, please note that we will only 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 site’s web design.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

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

WP Theme Directories vs Theme Developers

There are two places where WordPress themes can be found. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.

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 shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

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 WordPress theme stores typically create both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme design 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 WP theme directories .

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

Finding A Great Theme Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to download free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 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 website, but it also uses a theme review team to review and make sure that each theme in the directory meets certain standards of quality and security.

To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:

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

Find Free Themes Without Leaving Your Own WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WP dashboard with just a few clicks.

Use WordPress Theme 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 easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a gray colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in the article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed correctly across all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

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

… and find only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme. 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 downside 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 developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes ask 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 more than a year since any updates were made, then it’s best to think carefully about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

If you’re just getting started and your website or blog is still quite 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 premium theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for you and helps to convert your site visitors into customers.

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

Paid WP 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 great support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

Theme Directories

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme creators showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and environmental blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for business sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for photography, writing professionals, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to directory listings, classifieds, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, nightlife, 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. home sales, etc.)
• Retail – themes for beauty products, trades or professionals (plumbers, chiropractors, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor 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 emails you theme update notifications)

Go here to discover quality premium WP themes in the ThemeForest marketplace:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse 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 go through all of their WordPress themes and narrow your search using theme categories from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

Mojo is a marketplace 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 WP themes, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories by using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo

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

Commercial And Independent WP 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 browse more themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs eye-catching premium themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their growing theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes creates beautiful 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 browse all StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress develops 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 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 updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that it is always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you 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 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 very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing themes from StudioPress is that one low price allows 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 StudioPress themes)

WordPress Theme-Checking Tools

Here are 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? is a free online tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme and plugins a site is using.

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 don’t know if a site was built using WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site uses WordPress: How To Tell If A Website Was Built With 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 a site is powered by WordPress, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used and list any WP plugins it detects.

• To use the online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about using this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog Was Built Using WordPress Software

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – Plugin

A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A well-known strategy used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress directory, or use established and reputable theme vendors.

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

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

I hope that you have found this information useful.

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