In a separate post, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about WP themes and what makes WP themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out this post: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this article, we will show you where you can browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your website. 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 experiencing problems like lack of product support and poor theme coding.
As explained in another post, a theme is a unique kind of web design template that is used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.
Many website designers and web design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of high quality themes designed to cover a wide range of purposes and needs.
Where To Find WordPress Themes: Let’s Keep It Simple!
Let’s say you were to open up Google and type the following:
- best free themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best free WordPress themes for writers (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search results.
So, to help you save time and make things 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 need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another article. In this article, let’s just be focusing 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 Themes
Next, it’s important to know that you can find thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be licensed for use as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces vs Theme Design Companies
There are two places where WordPress themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent theme stores.
WP theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. 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 marketplace.
Some of the bigger 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 theme agencies typically develop both free and paid WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of developer, to large theme development companies.
Most 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 the best WordPress themes for your blog.
Finding 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 free WordPress themes. 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 place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website, but it also relies on a theme review team comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with high 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
Look For Free WP Themes Without Leaving Your Own 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 start using it directly from inside your WP admin panel with just a few mouse clicks.
Use WP 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 themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light colour design, with a 2-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ PCs, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and bring up only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in 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 you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask for donations to help cover their costs of providing support and updates, bug fixes, etc..
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over one year since any change was made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your site 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 free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for you and your business.
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 criteria, let’s turn our attention to paid WordPress themes.
Premium WordPress 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:
Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and best-known theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WP theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for visual galleries, arts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to travel, holiday rentals, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv 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. home sales, etc.)
- Retail – themes for retail stores, trades or professionals (plumbers, dentists, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage celebrant 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)
Browse lots of great themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to browse all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse 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 themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Photography themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to see more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium WP themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s look at commercial and independent WordPress theme vendors.
Commercial And Independent WP Theme Agencies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to see all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs eye-catching WP themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their WordPress theme portfolio.
(click on the above images to view all themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in e-commerce themes for WordPress. 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 builds WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that enables users to 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 your content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many website developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best coding practices and to ensure that it always remains 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 “skins” that sit on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
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 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 images above to see all StudioPress themes)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
Here are some useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a website or blog is using (including parent and child WP themes).
This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the website or blog is using.
Tip: If you don’t know whether a site uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a site was built using WordPress: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WP-Checking Tools
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 has been built on the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any plugins detected.
- To use the tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about this tool go here: Is My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
We suggested 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 WP 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 offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org repository, or use well-known and trusted theme download sites.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your theme files. The TAC plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: WordPress.org Plugin)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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