Tag: WordPress Themes

In an earlier 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 themes so attractive to website owners, then go here to read our post: About WP Themes – A Newbies’ Guide

In this blog post, we will show you where you can browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your 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 having to deal with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.

As explained in our previously-mentioned post, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web template that is used on WordPress-powered websites and designed to work specifically in the WP content management system.

Many talented web designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of exciting themes covering an extensive range of applications.

Finding WP Themes: How To Avoid Information Overload

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

• best free themes for WordPress
• best free themes for WordPress
• best free WordPress themes for business (or whatever your business, area of interest or website is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk 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 should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different article. To keep things simple, we’ll 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 the design of your site.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s important to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces vs WP Theme Development Firms

There are 2 places where themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme stores.

Theme marketplaces and theme directories are big theme stores. WordPress 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 agencies typically design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Many commercial or independent theme developers 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 or blog.

Choosing WP Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – WP Themes Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to find WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WP theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as some free software users have learned– 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 WP directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a review team comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets certain standards of quality and security.

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

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

You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress.org 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 a couple of clicks.

Use The WP Theme Filtering

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 pink colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another post where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. the laptops, tablets and smartphones used by visitors to browse your web content) …

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

… and find only WordPress themes that use “responsive” design standards …

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 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 it’s unrealistic to expect the developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover their 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 changes were made, then we advise you to think twice about using it, as the WordPress software changes quite frequently and this can result in conflicts and errors with older code.

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 any money on paid themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for you and for converting your site visitors into customers.

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

Paid WP 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 ongoing 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 WP theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

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

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

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, writing professionals, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites about travel, holiday rentals, tourism directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for celebrity blogs, dining out, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (electricians, legal firms, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest themes directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their WP themes and search through their theme categories from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

Mojo is a marketplace for premium-quality 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 (e.g. Landing Page or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial theme developers.

Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Agencies

SoloStream

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

(click on above images to browse more SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their WP theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes 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 images above to see more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many web developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework regularly up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it always remains compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update themes built using the Genesis framework without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.

This is because StudioPress themes 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 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 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 see all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That – WordPress Theme And Plugin Search Tool

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a site uses (including parent and child themes).

This is a great resource if you ever 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, we have published a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website uses WordPress: Is It A WordPress Site?

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 a site has been built on WordPress software, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any plugins detected.

• To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn how to use this tool go here: Is Your Site Powered By WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – Plugin

We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A method that is commonly used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and trusted theme merchants.

If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may 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. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …

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

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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