Tag: WP Themes

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

If you would like to learn more about WP themes and what makes themes unique, then make sure to check out the post here: An Introduction to WP Themes

In this blog post, we explain where you can look for free and paid themes for your WordPress site. You will also learn about the different types of WordPress theme resources and get tips on how to ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and avoid dealing with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a unique type of web template that is used on WordPress-driven sites and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many skilled website designers and web design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community enjoy access to thousands of quality WordPress themes covering a wide-range of applications.

Where To Find Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide

If you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like the following:

• best free WordPress themes
• best free WordPress themes
• best free WordPress themes for musicians (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog 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 things 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 should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another article. In this post, we’ll only 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 of your blog.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be made available to users as Premium (paid) themes.

WP Theme Marketplaces & WordPress Theme Agencies

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

Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are large theme stores. 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 theme stores 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 houses typically will create both free and premium WP themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Most commercial or independent theme design houses 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 the best WP themes for your blog.

Finding A Great Theme For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)

The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to search for free WP themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free WP theme directory you should use when looking for free WP 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 contain malicious code and put 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 site, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and make sure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with 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

You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WP 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 only a couple of clicks.

Use The Theme Feature Filter

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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a pink 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 discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, tablets and smartphones) …

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

… and find only WP themes that are “responsive” …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of 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 theme 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 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 updates were last made, then we advise you to think twice about downloading it, as WordPress is frequently updated and this can result in conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your website 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 any money on a theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free 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 themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, it’s time to turn our attention to finding 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, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

Theme Marketplaces

ThemeForest

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

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,000 premium 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 a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites or advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes for video galleries, writing professionals, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to travel, holiday rentals, social directories, 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, music venues, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (electricians, legal firms, 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse thousands of quality premium WP themes in the ThemeForest theme directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace 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 WP themes and narrow your search using theme categories using their dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of quality premium WordPress themes crafted by independent WP 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 directory for premium 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 find WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories by choosing the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

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

Commercial Theme Design Companies

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 view all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates stunning WordPress themes that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and offer a membership option that gives you access to all themes in their growing theme portfolio.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront creates gorgeous 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 see more themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress develops WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows you to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress site, and provides an auto-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for the content and unprecedented control of the framework.

Many web developers prefer using this framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps this framework consistently updated to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes remain always compatible with the latest version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you have made to your theme.

This is because themes built with the Genesis framework use something called “child themes,” which are like “skins” that sit on top of the 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 easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing themes from StudioPress is that one low price allows 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 all StudioPress themes)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

Here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That?

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

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme is being used on the site.

Tip: If you don’t know if a site uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website is WP-driven: Is Your Site 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 if the site is built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used on the site and list any WordPress plugins detected.

• To use this 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 Web Site And WordPress-Checking Tools

Theme Authenticity Checker - WP Plugin

We said this before and it’s worth repeating it again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we recommend sticking with the WordPress themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A method that is commonly used by a number of hackers and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” WP themes 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 themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.

If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site could be infected with malware or unwanted code, use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of your WP theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: WordPress.org Plugin)

I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best WordPress useful.

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