Tag: WordPress Themes

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

If you would like to know more about WordPress themes and what makes WordPress themes so special, then go here to read the article: About WP Themes – A Practical Guide

In this blog post, we show you where you can search for 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 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 poor coding.

As explained in another post, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed specifically with the WP content management system in mind.

Many professional website designers and website development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional-quality themes designed for many purposes.

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

If you were to fire up Google and type the following:

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

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the search listings.

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 start, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a different article. In this article, let’s just cover the topic of finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over your web design.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that there are both Free and Paid WordPress themes made available. Free WordPress themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be listed as Premium (paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces And Directories & WP Theme Agencies

There are 2 kinds of places where WordPress themes can be found. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme developers.

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

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 typically will develop both free and paid WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme design and development companies.

Many commercial theme design houses sell their 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 themes for your website.

Choosing Great WP Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to find free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WP 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 contain malicious code and put your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.

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

To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:

http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes

Find WP Themes Inside Your 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 within your WP admin panel with just a few clicks.

Use The WP Theme Feature Filters

WordPress provides a 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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly pink colour design, with a 3-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 using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these 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 filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …

… and display only themes that use “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in customizable features, 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 urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes will ask you for a donation 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 over one year since any change was last made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and these changes can create conflicts or errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your site is still quite 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 a theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and for converting your site visitors into customers.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, let’s 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 great support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

Theme Directories

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,500 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

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

If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific WordPress themes in various categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and activism blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for medical sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for creative work, cv and resume writing, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites about directory listings, dining out & restaurants, social directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for photo gallery blogs, dining out, 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. home sales, etc.)
• Retail – themes for specialty stores, trades or professionals (electricians, dentists, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to apps, landing pages, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating 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 great premium themes in the ThemeForest website:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Popular themes, etc.) using their dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to view more 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 browse hundreds of WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find quality premium WP themes in the Mojo directory here:

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme marketplaces, let’s turn our attention to commercial theme design houses.

Commercial Theme Agencies

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high 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 premium themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that allows you access to all themes in their growing WordPress theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes creates beautiful WP 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 themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides a self-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for your 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 coding practices and to ensure that it always remains 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 design.

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 themes from StudioPress 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 see more themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website uses (including parent and child themes).

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

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

• To use the online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Site And WordPress-Checking Tools

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

We said this before and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we strongly recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A commonly-used tactic employed by many hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WordPress theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and then outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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