In a separate post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WP themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out our post here: An Overview of WP Themes
In this blog post, you will learn where to look for free and paid themes for your WP website or blog. 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 having to deal with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previously-mentioned post, a theme is a unique type of web design template that is used on WordPress-powered blogs and designed to work specifically with the WP platform in mind.
Many talented website designers and website design agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of exciting themes designed to cover a wide range of website uses.
Where To Find WordPress Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!
If you were to browse over to Google and search for the following:
- best paid themes for WordPress
- best responsive WordPress themes
- best paid WordPress themes for musicians (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of junk to sort through in your search listings.
So, to help you save time and make things easier, let’s 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 should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate post. For now, please note that we will only be covering 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 Themes
Next, it’s important to know that you can find thousands of Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are sold as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories Commercial And Independent WP Theme Design Houses
There are two places where WP themes can be found. The first place is in WordPress theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WP theme shops.
WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are big aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
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 theme developers typically will design both free and paid themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme developer, to large theme development companies.
Most commercial theme shops 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 themes for your blog.
Where To Find Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WordPress Themes Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the biggest and best place to download 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 discovered– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers to review and make sure 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 WordPress Themes Repository, 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 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 inside your WP admin panel with just a couple of clicks.
Use WP 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 Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a blue colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of using “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will work on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and display only WP themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress 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 features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside of using free WP 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 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 one year since any change was last made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.
If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively 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 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 your business.
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, let’s turn our attention to finding premium WP themes.
Premium 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 biggest and most popular WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,000 premium themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view all themes on ThemeForest)
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 parenting blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes for portfolios, writing professionals, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, dining out & restaurants, , etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, music venues, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. retina-ready 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 retail stores, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to apps, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding 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 thousands of great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can search through 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Wedding themes, etc.) using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great WordPress themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse more Mojo themes)
Mojo is a directory 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories using the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great themes in the Mojo theme directory here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s take a look at commercial theme agencies.
Commercial WordPress 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 images above to see all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates eye-catching themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offers a membership option that allows you access to their entire WP theme collection.
(click on the above images to browse more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in WP 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 browse all StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that enables users 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 this 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 with the Genesis framework 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 look and feel.
If this all sounds way 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 you pay 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 above images to view all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website or blog is using.
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the website.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a web site is powered by WordPress: Is My Blog 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 has been built using the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any WP plugins it detects.
- To use this online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
- To learn more about this tool go here: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Website Runs On The WP CMS Platform
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WordPress Plugin
We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A commonly-used strategy employed by many hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber-crime is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes and plugins 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 repository, or use well-known and reputable sites.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could be infected with 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 them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin, WordPress.org)
We hope that you have found this information useful.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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