In a previous article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about WordPress themes and what makes themes so special, then go here to read our post: Understanding WP Themes – A Practical Guide
In this article, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your WP website. 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 experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in our previously-mentioned article, a theme is a special type of web template used on WordPress-driven websites and designed specifically with the WP CMS platform in mind.
Many website designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of exciting themes designed for many website uses.
Finding Great Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like this:
- best themes for WordPress
- best premium WordPress themes
- best responsive WordPress themes for churches (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in your search listings.
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 simple.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes
Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in another article. For now, we’ll only be focusing on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over your site’s web design.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid themes being made available. Free WP themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are licensed for use as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Directories Commercial And Independent WP Theme Stores
There are 2 kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme houses.
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 customers 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 WP theme development firms can also create both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme design and development companies.
Most commercial theme shops 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best WordPress themes for your blog.
Choosing Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download free WP themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress 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 and even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Search For Free WP Themes Inside Your Own WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WordPress dashboard with just a few mouse clicks.
Use The WP 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 Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a light color design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed without problems on all devices (e.g. computers, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …
… and find only WordPress themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer 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 urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask users for donations 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 more than 1 year since any changes were last made, then you should think twice about using it, as the WordPress software changes quite frequently and new features can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively 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 a premium theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for you and for your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to premium themes.
Premium 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:
WordPress Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to browse all 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 personal blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for visual galleries, arts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, dining out & restaurants, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for photo gallery 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. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (repairers, medical centers, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental 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 sends you theme update notifications)
Browse thousands of quality premium themes in the ThemeForest directory here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to browse more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can search through 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to view all themes at Mojo.com)
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 go through all of their WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium themes in the Mojo theme directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial theme developers.
Commercial 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 see more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates functional themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offer a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to browse all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront 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 StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many website developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure that it is always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, 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 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 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 above images to view more themes from StudioPress)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a website or blog is using (including parent and child WP 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 site.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site uses WordPress: How Can I Tell If My Web 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 not only confirm if a site has been built using WordPress, but it will also list the WP theme being used by the site and list any WordPress plugins it detects.
- To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn more about using this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Runs On WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A well-known strategy used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WordPress 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 themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use established and reputable theme vendors.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WP theme files. The TAC plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and commercial themes for WordPress useful.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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