In a previous article, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of using WP themes and what makes themes unique, then make sure to check out our article: A Practical Guide To WordPress Themes
In this blog post, we will show you where to search for free and paid themes for your WordPress website or blog. You will also learn about the different types of WP theme resources and get tips on how to ensure that you get the right themes for your needs and how to avoid dealing with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a special type of web template used on WordPress-driven sites and designed specifically with the WordPress content management system in mind.
Many skilled website designers and web development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of quality WP themes covering a wide-range of uses.
Finding Great Themes For WordPress: So Many Choices … Where To Begin?
Let’s say you were to go to Google and type the following:
- best free WordPress themes
- best responsive WordPress themes
- best paid WordPress themes for authors (enter whatever your business, search topic or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the 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 WP 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 cover these differences in a different 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 post, which gives you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your site.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that you will easily find many Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free WordPress themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are listed as Premium (paid) themes.
WordPress Theme Directories vs Theme Development Firms
There are 2 places where you can find themes. The first type of place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme shops.
WP 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 visitors find these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.
Some of the bigger 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 vendors can design both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of theme designer, to large theme development companies.
Many 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to find great themes for your website.
Choosing The Best Responsive Themes For Your WP Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download free WordPress themes. In fact, it’s probably the only free theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as many free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can put your computer, digital presence and even your entire business at risk.
The WordPress.org 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 to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory meets their quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official 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 WordPress theme in the WordPress theme directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and start using it directly from inside your WP dashboard with just a couple of clicks.
Use Theme Filtering
WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colors, Layout and Features …
This makes it easier to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly orange colour design, with a 4-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in another article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” WP themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. your computer, smartphone and tablet) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you search across its entire database of free themes …
… and bring up only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress 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 developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover costs of providing support and updates, bug fixes, etc..
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been more than a year since any changes were made, then think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and new features can create conflicts and errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your site 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 you and for your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free WP themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to premium 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:
WordPress Theme Marketplaces
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known theme marketplaces online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme designers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,000 premium WordPress themes listed (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to browse more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and political blogs, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and marketing purposes.
- Creative – themes for creative work, crafts, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to employment opportunities, classifieds, community resources, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for gossip blogs, restaurants, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 catalogs, trades or professionals (electricians, medical practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to technology, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental issues, 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 browse many quality premium themes in the ThemeForest marketplace:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see more Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can browse thousands of 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 WP themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Commerce themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium-quality 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 browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great premium themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial WP theme shops.
Commercial And Independent Theme Vendors
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to see all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs great premium themes for WordPress and offer a membership option that allows members to access all themes in their growing theme portfolio.
(click on the images above to browse all themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in creating 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 all StoreFront themes)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework that lets you quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, 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 like the Genesis framework not only because it’s well-coded and well-supported (the development team at StudioPress keeps the framework consistently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that it always remains 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 a paint job that sits 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 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 above images to browse all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WP Theme Is That? WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WordPress theme and plugin-checking tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme a site is using (including parent and child WordPress themes).
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WP theme is being used on the site.
Tip: If you can’t tell whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a web site uses the WP CMS platform: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Web Site Was Built Using 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 powered by WordPress, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used and list any plugins it detects.
- To use this tool go 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 WP Software
Theme Authenticity Checker - Plugin
We suggested 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 reviewed and approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A well-known method used by many hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up sites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and then distribute modified themes with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress repository, or use established and reputable theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your site could be infected with malware or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to perform a scan of your WordPress theme files. This plugin searches the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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