Tag: WordPress Themes

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

If you would like to know more about the benefits of using themes and what makes WordPress themes so attractive to web site owners, then go here to read the article: About WordPress Themes – A Non-Technical User’s Guide

In this blog post, you will learn where you can look for 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 having to deal with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.

As explained in our previously-mentioned post, a theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many skilled website designers and web development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of exciting WordPress themes designed to cover a wide range of purposes and needs.

Finding WordPress Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?

Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and type a key phrase like this:

• best WP themes
• best free WordPress themes
• best free WordPress themes for authors (or whatever your business, search topic or website is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the 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 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 cover these differences in a different article. To keep things simple, 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 the design of your website.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes for WordPress are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces vs Theme Stores

There are mostly two places where themes can be found. The first place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WP theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent WP theme companies.

WP theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are big aggregators of themes. 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 directory.

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 shops can also 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 web and theme design and development companies.

As you will see, many commercial theme developers 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 WP theme directories .

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

Where To Find Great WordPress Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download 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 some free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can put 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 site, but it also relies on a review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress 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 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 admin panel with a couple of mouse clicks.

Use Theme Feature 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 Colours, Layout and Features …

This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light colour design, with a three-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” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. your PC, tablet and smartphone) …

You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you do just that …

… and display only WordPress themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs nothing to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of 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 developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most 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 1 year since any updates were last made, then you should think twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and these changes can result in conflicts or 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 money on premium themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what 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 narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s 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 great support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

Theme Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 premium WordPress themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

(click on the above images to see all 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 bloggers and parenting blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for design, arts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, buy & sell, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, restaurants, 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (electricians, legal practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and advice 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of great WordPress themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can search through 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 marketplace, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Minimal or Business themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

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

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 (e.g. Magazine or Business 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 theme marketplace here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme design houses.

Commercial Theme Development Firms

SoloStream

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

(click on images above to see more SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes designs great WP themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offers a membership option that allows members access to all themes in their WordPress theme collection.

(click on the images above to browse all themes from WooThemes)

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes specializes in creating 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 above images to browse all StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets users 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 like 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 practices for coding and to make sure that themes remain always 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 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 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 view all themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

Let’s finish this post with a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WordPress Theme Is That

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WordPress theme and plugin-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website uses.

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 whether a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website uses the WP CMS platform: Does My Web Site Run On 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 whether or not the site has been built using WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any plugins it detects.

• To use this online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn how to use this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using WordPress

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We said this before and it’s worth repeating it again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the approved WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A strategy that is commonly used by many hacking groups and syndicates that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free WordPress themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and trusted theme vendors.

If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan 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 …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find great WP free and premium themes useful.

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