Tag: WP Themes

In a separate article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to know more about themes and what makes WP themes so special, then go here to read the article: A Practical Guide To Understanding WP Themes

In this article, we explain where you can search for free and paid themes for your WordPress website. 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 experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.

As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a special type of web template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed specifically on WordPress.

Many skilled website designers and website development companies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community have access to thousands of high quality themes designed to cover many purposes.

Finding Great WordPress Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide

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

• best responsive WP themes
• best responsive themes for WordPress
• best free WordPress themes for musicians (enter whatever your business, area of interest or website is about)

You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in the 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 WordPress themes really simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a later article. For now, we’ll only cover 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 blog.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be listed as Premium (paid) themes.

WordPress Theme Directories & WordPress Theme Design Companies

There are two places where you can find WordPress themes. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second type of place are the commercial and independent WP theme shops.

WP 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 bigger 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 shops typically create both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of theme developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Many commercial or independent theme design houses 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 the best WP themes for your website.

Finding WordPress 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 WordPress themes for free. 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 discovered– 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, but it also relies on a review team to review and ensure that each theme uploaded to the directory complies with high quality and security standards.

To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Repository, go here:

http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes

Find Free WordPress Themes Inside Your Own WP Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every theme in the WordPress theme directory and not only find a great theme for your website or blog, but also easily install and start using it directly from within your WP admin panel with just a few clicks.

Use The Theme Feature Filter

WordPress has a built-in filtering function inside the dashboard area that lets you narrow down your search for themes based on criteria like Colours, Layout and Features …

This makes it easy to find what you are looking for. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly blue color design, with a 4-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” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will work on all devices (e.g. your laptop, tablet and smartphone) …

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

… and bring up only themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free WP themes is that there is no cost to download and use the theme. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of built-in customizable features, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The ”cons” to 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 theme developer to provide personal support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask for donations to help cover their 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 over a year since any changes were made, then think carefully about using it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

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 any money on a premium theme. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for you and your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to finding premium themes.

Premium WP 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 great support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:

WordPress Theme Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the biggest and most popular theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme developers showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 17,000 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

(click on the images above to view all themes on ThemeForest)

If you visit the ThemeForest theme marketplace, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for general blogs and environmental blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites or marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes for video galleries, crafts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to employment opportunities, holiday rentals, social directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for gossip 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. rentals, etc.)
• Retail – themes for travel, trades or professionals (electricians, chiropractors, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Go here to discover great premium themes in the ThemeForest website:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WP theme directory where you can search through thousands of quality premium WordPress 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 marketplace, but you can easily find themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Minimal or Photography themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of quality premium themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme marketplace here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to see more 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 narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Portfolio or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by selecting the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial and independent WordPress theme agencies.

Commercial WP Theme Developers

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of professional quality premium WordPress 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 designs great themes and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire WordPress theme portfolio.

(click on the images above to view more themes from WooThemes)

StoreFront

StoreFront specializes in e-commerce themes for WordPress. Their themes also integrate well with some of the most powerful e-commerce platforms and plugins available.

(click on the images above to view more StoreFront themes)

StudioPress

StudioPress builds 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 a self-updating design architecture, turn-key designs with beautiful frames for the 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 the framework consistently updated to reflect best coding practices and to make sure that it always remains 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, 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 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 more themes from StudioPress)

Theme-Checking Tools

Here are a couple of 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 web tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a site is using (including parent and child themes).

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

Tip: If you can’t tell if a site runs on WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site is powered by WordPress: The Easy Way To Tell If Your Blog 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 if a site has been built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used on the site and list any WP plugins detected.

• To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn more about using this tool go here: Was My Website Built Using WordPress? How To Tell

Theme Authenticity Checker - WP Plugin

We suggested this earlier and it’s worth repeating again: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the approved WP themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.

A commonly-used method employed by a number of hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and distribute themes containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google for search phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WordPress themes from the official WordPress repository, or use well-known and trusted theme merchants.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could be infected with potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to run a scan of your WP theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and then presents you with a report with the results …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin Site, WordPress.org)

I hope that you have found this information useful.

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