In another post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WordPress themes and what makes WordPress themes so special, then go here to read the post: A Practical Guide To Understanding WordPress Themes
In this blog post, we show you where you can browse hundreds of 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 ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid dealing with problems like lack of product support and poor theme coding.
As we’ve explained in our previous post, a theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-powered blogs and designed specifically with the WP CMS platform in mind.
Many skilled website designers and web design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users have access to thousands of high quality themes covering a wide-range of uses.
Where To Find Great Themes: How To Avoid Information Overload
Let’s say you were to open up Google and search for the following:
- best themes for WordPress
- best premium WordPress themes
- best paid WordPress themes for musicians (or whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of information 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 start, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in another article. In this article, we’ll only cover 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 will easily find many 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 licensed for use as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WP Theme Directories vs Commercial Theme Agencies
There are two kinds of places where you can find themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WordPress theme companies.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme stores. WordPress 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 WordPress plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent WordPress theme shops typically will create both free and paid themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme design companies.
Most commercial or independent theme companies 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 find great themes for your blog.
Choosing A Great WP Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to search for WP themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WordPress themes. The reason for this, is because –as many 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 relies on a theme review team to review and make sure that each theme listed in the directory meets certain quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WP Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress.org theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WordPress dashboard with only a couple of clicks.
Use The WP Theme Filters
WordPress provides a 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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly blue colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in an earlier post where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will work on all devices (e.g. your PC, tablet and smartphone) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and display only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The ”cons” 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 theme developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover support costs.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over a year since any changes were last made, then we advise you to think twice about using it, as WordPress is frequently updated and these changes can create conflicts and 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 premium themes or even on custom theme 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 theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to paid 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 responsive support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WP Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular WordPress theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium WP themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view more 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 general blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes for video galleries, writing professionals, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, dining out & restaurants, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, dining out, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching 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 beauty products, trades or professionals (electricians, medical practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, 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 themes in the ThemeForest theme site:
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 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 directory, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse all Mojo themes)
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 find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great WordPress themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s look at commercial WP theme design companies.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Design Houses
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of professional quality premium themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to view all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates great premium themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that lets you access their entire theme portfolio.
(click on the above images to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront 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 above images to browse all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that enables users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, 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 this 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 coding practices and to make sure that themes are 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this sounds way 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 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 images above to browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That?
What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website 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 the website or blog is using.
Tip: If you don’t know if a site uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website is powered by WordPress: Is It A WP Blog?
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 on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used by the site and list any WordPress plugins it detects.
- To use this online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn how to use this tool go here: How To Tell If Your Website Was Built Using WordPress
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 reviewed and approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known method used by a number of hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress.org directory, or use established and reputable sites.
If you have any doubts about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could be infected with malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WordPress theme files. The TAC plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin Page, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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