Tag: WP Themes

In a previous post, we have written a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you would like to learn more about themes and what makes WordPress themes so attractive to website owners, then make sure to check out this post: Understanding WP Themes – A Practical Guide

In this blog post, you will learn where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your WP site. 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 avoid having to deal with problems like lack of customer support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in our previous article, a theme is a unique type of web design template used on WordPress-driven websites and designed to work specifically for WordPress.

Many web designers and web development firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of quality WordPress themes designed to cover many purposes.

Where To Find Great Responsive Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Information Overload

Let’s say you were to launch Google and type the following:

• best free themes for WordPress
• WordPress themes free
• best paid WordPress themes for authors (enter whatever your business, search topic or website is about)

Chances are that you are going to get an overwhelming amount of disorganized information to sort through in your 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 simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we start, you should know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another article. In this post, please note that we will only be covering themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this post, as these give you more freedom, more options and more control over the design of your website.

Free vs Paid Themes

Next, it’s useful to know that you will find thousands of Free and Paid themes made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are made available to users as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Directories & WordPress Theme Developers

There are mostly 2 places where themes can be found. The first is in WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme developers.

WordPress theme marketplaces and WP theme directories are big aggregators of themes. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software directory.

Some of the bigger directories 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 development firms can develop both free and paid themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme designer or a small team of designer, to large web and theme design companies.

As you will see, many commercial theme design firms 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 WP theme directories .

Let’s now show you where to find the best WordPress themes for your website.

Where To Find The Best Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

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

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

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

Find Themes Inside Your 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 activate it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with only a few mouse clicks.

Use The WP Theme Filtering

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 predominantly gray color design, with a two-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in another article where we discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WP themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display correctly on all devices (e.g. your visitors’ computers, smartphones and tablets) …

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 themes that use “responsive” design standards …

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 on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and provide a number of customizable settings, 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 immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most free 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 made, then it’s best to think carefully about using it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and these changes 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 money on premium themes or even on custom theme design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded may just be the thing that 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.org theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to paid themes.

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

Theme Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the biggest and best-known theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest lets many professional WordPress theme creators showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are currently over 17,000 premium WordPress themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …

(click on the images above to browse 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 blog magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and advertising purposes.
• Creative – themes for visual galleries, crafts, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about directory listings, classifieds, tourism directories, etc.
• eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, membership sites, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for music and bands blogs, music venues, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. mobile-switching 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 shops, trades or professionals (repairers, medical centers, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to hosting, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse lots of great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest directory here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

(click on the images above to see all themes on Creative Market)

Creative Market is another leading WP theme marketplace where you can search through thousands of 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 from the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to browse 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WordPress themes and narrow your search with theme categories by using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo marketplace here:

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s look at commercial WordPress theme shops.

Commercial WordPress 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 premium themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and offer a membership option that lets you access their entire WordPress theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront Themes specializes in creating WP themes for e-commerce. 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 themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

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

Many website developers prefer using this 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 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 StudioPress themes 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 very easy to work with, just like all other WordPress themes. The great thing about choosing themes from StudioPress 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 browse all StudioPress themes)

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.com is a free web tool that allows you to easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website 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 shows you how to tell if a site uses WordPress: How To Check If A 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 if the site is built on the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the theme being used by the site and list any plugins it detects.

• To use the online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about this tool go here: Is My Site WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin

A word of warning: 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 many hackers and syndicates that engage in cyber criminal activities is to put up websites offering “Free” themes for WordPress 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 come up on Google for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free WP themes from the official WordPress theme directory, or use well-known and reputable sites.

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

(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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