In an earlier article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WP themes and what makes WP themes unique, then go here to read our post: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your website. You will also learn about the different types of WP theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid having to deal with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in our previously-mentioned article, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed to work specifically on the WordPress content management system.
Many website designers and website design companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WP community have access to thousands of professional themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.
Finding Great WordPress Themes: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
If you were to open up Google and type the following:
- best free themes for WordPress
- best responsive WordPress themes
- best paid WordPress themes for authors (type in whatever your business, search topic or website is about)
Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of junk 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 get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different article. To keep things simple, let’s just focus 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 aspects of your site.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are thousands of 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 will be sold as Premium (paid) themes.
WP Theme Marketplaces vs Commercial Theme Stores
There are 2 kinds of places where WP themes can be found. The first type of place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme developers.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are large aggregators of themes. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
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 agencies can also create both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme development companies.
Most commercial 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 search for great themes for your blog.
Choosing The Best Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes 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 theme 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 place your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WordPress site, but it also uses a theme review team comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WP Themes Inside Your Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WP theme in the WordPress directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with just a couple of clicks.
Use The WP Theme Filtering
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 gray color design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another post 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 across all devices (e.g. PCs, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and bring back only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to 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 immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many free 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 more than a year since any change was made, then you should think carefully about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
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. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to paid WP themes.
Premium Themes
If you are looking for themes with stunning 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 most popular WP theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse all 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 parenting blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for visual galleries, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about employment opportunities, classifieds, business directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, cafes, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. retina-ready themes.
- NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
- Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. rentals, etc.)
- Retail – themes for shops, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal firms, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage celebrant blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political 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)
Go here to browse many great WordPress themes in the ThemeForest theme directory:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can browse 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Commerce themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WordPress themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to see more themes at Mojo)
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 WP themes, but you can easily find WP themes and search through their theme categories by selecting the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium WordPress themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial and independent theme design houses.
Commercial And Independent Theme Development Firms
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 above images to browse all themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates functional themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their growing WordPress theme collection.
(click on the images above to see more 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 images above to see all StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users to 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 this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework regularly up-to-date to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that themes remain always compatible with the latest WordPress version, 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 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 design.
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 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 images above to browse more StudioPress themes)
WordPress Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That – WP Theme And Plugin Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme and plugin-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a site 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 site uses.
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 web site uses the WP CMS platform: Is My Website 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 then not only confirm if the site has been built on the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use the tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about this tool go here: Does My Web Site Run On WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
We said this earlier and it’s worth repeating it again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A strategy that is commonly used by many hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org directory, or use established and trusted theme merchants.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report with the results …
(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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