In a separate article, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes so special, then make sure to check out our article: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where you can find many great free and paid themes for your website. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to make sure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid experiencing problems like lack of product support and poor coding.
As explained in our previous article, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web template that is used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed specifically in the WordPress content management system.
Many talented website designers and web design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of high quality themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.
Finding Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!
Let’s say you were to go to Google and type the following:
- best WordPress themes
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for writers (type in 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 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 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 another post. In this article, let’s just be covering 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 WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you can find thousands of Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Marketplaces Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Stores
There are 2 places where WP themes can be found. The first is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme shops.
Theme marketplaces and theme directories are large theme aggregators. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers find 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 design companies typically create both free and commercial WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme design companies.
As you will see, 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great WP themes for your website or blog.
Choosing The Best Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to download free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as some 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 WP 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 hard working volunteers to review and make sure that each theme in the directory meets their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Directory, 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 WordPress theme in the WordPress.org directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from within your WordPress dashboard with a few mouse clicks.
Use The Theme Filtering
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 a dark colour design, with a three-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the post where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will work on all devices (e.g. your computer, tablet and smartphone) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and bring up only WP themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free 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 provide a number of customizable options, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The ”cons” to using free themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and you shouldn’t expect the theme developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free themes will ask you for a donation to help cover their 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 last made, then think carefully about using it, as WordPress changes quite frequently and these changes can result in conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website 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 paid themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and for your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WordPress themes in the WordPress theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet your specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to premium WP themes.
Premium WordPress 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and most popular theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium WP themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the above images to see 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 personal blogs and parenting blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, kindle book authors, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to directory listings, classifieds, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, nightlife, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 boutiques, trades or professionals (plumbers, engineering, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, green living 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)
Browse lots of great WordPress themes in the ThemeForest themes marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to view all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to see all Mojo themes)
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 go through all of their WP themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Magazine or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by selecting the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo themes marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial WP theme stores.
Commercial WP Theme Design Companies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium 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 designs stunning premium themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offers a membership option that allows members to access all themes in their growing WP theme collection.
(click on the above images to see more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in 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 more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework that enables users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key site designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.
Many web developers like the Genesis 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 it always remains 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 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 way too technical, don’t worry 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 more StudioPress themes)
WordPress Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are some useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Search Tool
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free WordPress theme-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a website is using (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 WordPress theme the website or blog is using.
Tip: If you can’t tell if a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell whether or not a site uses WordPress: How To Tell If Your Website Was Built With 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 the site is built on the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WP theme being used on the site and list any plugins it detects.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn more about using this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Runs On WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A method that is commonly used by many hackers and cyber criminals 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 come up on Google for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org directory, or use established and trusted theme vendors.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of 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 with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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