Tag: WordPress Themes

In another post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using WP themes and what makes WP themes unique, then go here to read the article: An Overview of WordPress Themes

In this blog post, we will show you where to browse hundreds of 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 ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid having to deal with problems like lack of support and poor theme coding.

As explained in our previous post, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web design template used on WordPress-driven websites and designed to work specifically in WordPress.

Many talented web designers and website development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional-quality themes covering a wide-range of uses.

Finding WordPress Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!

If you were to go to Google and search for the following:

• best paid themes for WordPress
• WordPress themes free
• best paid WordPress themes for blogs (type in whatever your business, search topic or website is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in the search results.

So, to help you save time and make your life easier, let’s 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 users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another post. In this post, let’s just focus on finding 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 web design.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

Next, it’s important to know that typically, you’ll find both 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 can be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Directories & Theme Shops

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

Theme marketplaces and 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 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 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 WordPress theme development firms can design both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of developer, to large theme design and development companies.

As you will see, most commercial or independent 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 WordPress theme directories .

Let’s now show you where to find the best WP themes for your website or blog.

Choosing Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to search for WordPress 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 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 website, but it also relies on a review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and make sure that each theme in the directory complies with their quality and security standards.

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

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

Search For Free Themes Without Leaving Your Own WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress theme directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WP dashboard with only a couple of mouse clicks.

Use The WordPress Theme Feature Filter

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 themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a orange colour design, with a four-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 allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …

… and bring back only WP 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 on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and provide 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 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 theme developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most 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 1 year since any changes were last made, then think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software changes quite frequently and these changes 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 any money on premium themes or even on custom web design. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free 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 WP themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme designers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …

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

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 bloggers and green living blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, ebook authors, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to employment opportunities, buy & sell, business directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for gossip blogs, dining out, 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 shops, trades or professionals (repairers, engineering, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political issues, 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 discover quality premium themes in the ThemeForest theme directory:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Blog or Wedding themes, etc.) from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the images above to see all WordPress themes at Mojo)

Mojo is a directory 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

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

Commercial And Independent Theme Agencies

SoloStream

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

(click on images above to browse all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs great premium themes and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their WP theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes specializes in 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 more themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress develops 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 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 regularly updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that themes remain always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes 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 framework and gives your site its unique design.

If this all sounds too technical, don’t worry 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 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 view all StudioPress themes)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

Let’s finish this post with some useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That? – WordPress Theme Search Tool

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a site is using.

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

Tip: If you don’t know if a site runs on WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website was built using WordPress: How Can I Tell If My Site 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 whether or not a site was built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any plugins it detects.

• To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn how to use this tool go here: How Can I Tell If A Web Site Was Built Using WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We said this earlier and it’s worth repeating it 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 well-known tactic used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute modified themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org theme repository, or use established and trusted theme vendors.

If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog may be infected with 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 TAC plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of injected code and then outputs a report with the results …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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