In an earlier article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WordPress themes and what makes WP themes so attractive to web site owners, then make sure to check out this post: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this article, we will show you where to search for free and paid themes for your WordPress 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 support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in our previously-mentioned post, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed specifically for the WordPress CMS platform.
Many website designers and website development houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of unique WordPress themes covering a wide-range of uses.
Finding Great Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Information Overload
If you were to fire up Google and type key phrases like the following:
- best responsive themes for WordPress
- best responsive themes for WordPress
- best responsive WordPress themes for musicians (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 listings.
So, to help you save time and make your life 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 get started, you should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a different post. In this article, please note that we will only be covering 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 the design of your site.
Free vs Paid Themes
Next, it’s important to know that there are thousands of Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they can be made available to users as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Marketplaces And Directories vs WP Theme Design Houses
There are two kinds of places where you can find themes. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent theme development firms.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers search 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent WP theme shops typically will develop both free and paid WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme development companies.
As you will see, most commercial or independent theme stores 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to find great themes for your blog.
Choosing A Responsive Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Free WordPress Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the largest and best place to search for 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 some free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and place your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.
The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a theme review team comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory meets specific standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WordPress Themes Inside Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress theme directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WordPress dashboard with just a few mouse clicks.
Use Theme 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 what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with a dark colour design, with a 2-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in the post mentioned earlier where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. PCs, tablets and smartphones) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and display only WordPress themes that use “responsive” design standards …
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. 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 ”cons” 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. Many freely distributed 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 over a year since any updates were last made, then think twice about using it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and these changes can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website or blog 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 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 narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to premium WordPress themes.
Paid 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 Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and well known theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme developers 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 all ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and e-magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites or marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes for portfolios, writing professionals, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites about travel, classifieds, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, restaurants, 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. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for specialty stores, trades or professionals (repairers, medical centers, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing political issues, 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 sends you theme update notifications)
Browse lots of quality premium WP themes in the ThemeForest themes marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the images above to view all themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory where you can search through many quality premium WP 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 WP themes and search through their 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 theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to see more WP themes at Mojo)
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 WP themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s turn our attention to commercial and independent WP theme shops.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Developers
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to browse more themes from SoloStream)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs functional themes for WordPress and offers a membership option that allows members to access all themes in their theme portfolio.
(click on the above images to view all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in creating WordPress themes for e-commerce. StoreFront themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.
(click on the above images to see more StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework that lets you 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 web developers prefer using the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework frequently updated to reflect best coding practices and to ensure 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 “skins” that sit on top of the theme framework and gives your site its unique design.
If this sounds way too technical, there’s no need to feel concerned about it. StudioPress themes are easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing StudioPress themes is that you pay just 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 images above to see more themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
Here are some useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WordPress theme search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme 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 WordPress theme the website or blog uses.
Tip: If you don’t know if a site runs on WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site is powered by WordPress: Is My Site 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 powered by WordPress software, but it will also list the WP theme being used on the site and list any plugins detected.
- To use the tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn how to use this tool go here: Tell-Tale Signs It’s A WordPress Web Site And WordPress-Checking Tools
Theme Authenticity Checker - WordPress Plugin
A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A tactic that is commonly used by many hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google’s search results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org theme repository, or use well-known and trusted theme vendors.
If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could contain malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. The TAC plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of injected code and presents you with a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and commercial themes for WordPress useful.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group
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