Tag: WordPress Themes

In a separate article, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to know more about themes and what makes themes unique, then go here to read our article: About WP Themes – A Useful Guide For Non-Technical WP Users

In this blog post, we explain where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your site. 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 customer 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 sites and designed to work specifically for the WordPress platform.

Many skilled website designers and web development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community have access to thousands of uniquely-designed themes designed for a wide range of purposes and needs.

Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: Let’s Keep It Simple!

If you were to go to Google and type a key phrase like this:

• best WP themes
• WordPress themes free
• best paid WordPress themes for musicians (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in the search results.

So, to help you save time and make your life easier, we’ll 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 users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a later article. To keep things simple, please note that we will only cover the topic of finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over your web design.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

Next, it’s important to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free WordPress themes are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be sold as Premium (paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Directories Commercial And Independent WP Theme Vendors

There are mostly two types of places where you can find themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme vendors.

Theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are big theme aggregators. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

Some of the larger directories 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 theme agencies can also design both free and commercial WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme development companies.

Most commercial or independent theme stores 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 WP themes for your website or blog.

Choosing A Theme For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Free Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to search for WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WordPress 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 and even your entire business at risk.

The WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WP site, but it also relies on a theme review team comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with certain quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, 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 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 WP dashboard with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Use Theme Feature Filter

WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …

This makes it easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly light color design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly on all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …

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

… and find only themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs you 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 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 theme developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free themes ask users for donations to help cover their 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 change was made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and new features can result in conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website or blog 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 money on paid themes or even on custom web design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that works for your site and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding paid themes.

Premium WP 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, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WordPress Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular WP theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,500 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …

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

If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and political blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites or advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for design, ebook authors, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to employment opportunities, classifieds, community resources, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for music and bands 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 travel, trades or professionals (plumbers, dentists, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to technology, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage celebrant 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 sends you theme update notifications)

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

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can browse thousands of 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 find themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the images above to see more Mojo themes)

Mojo is a directory 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 WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. BuddyPress or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) using 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 directories, let’s take a look at commercial WP theme stores.

Commercial And Independent WP Theme Agencies

SoloStream

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

(click on images above to browse all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates stunning themes and offer a membership option that allows members access to their entire theme portfolio.

(click on the above images to see more themes from WooThemes)

StoreFront

StoreFront creates stunning 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 view more themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a 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 website developers like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework regularly updated to reflect best practices for coding and to make sure 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.

If this 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 you pay one low price 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 StudioPress themes)

Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are a few more useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:

What WP Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Checker

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

This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme the website is using.

Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site uses WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site is powered by WordPress: How To Check If Your 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 whether or not the site is built using WordPress, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any WordPress plugins detected.

• To use this tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn how to use this tool go here: How Can I Check If My Website Was Built Using WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A well-known strategy used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and distribute modified themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use established and reputable sites.

If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog could 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 malicious code and outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)

We hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WP useful.

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