In a previous post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes WordPress themes so attractive to web site owners, then make sure to check out our post here: A Non-Technical User’s Guide To Understanding WordPress Themes
In this article, we will show you where to search for free and paid themes for your WordPress 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of product support and poor theme coding.
As explained in another article, a WordPress theme is a unique kind of web design template used on WordPress-driven websites and blogs and designed to work specifically on the WP content management system.
Many talented web designers and website design houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of professional themes designed for many purposes and needs.
Where To Find Great WP Themes: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
Let’s say you were to browse over to Google and search for a key phrase like the following:
- best paid themes for WordPress
- WordPress themes free
- best responsive WordPress themes for musicians (or whatever your business, area of interest or blog is about)
You are probably going to get an overwhelming amount of information to sort through in the 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 get started, you should know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in another post. For now, we’ll only focus on finding themes for the self-hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org) in this article, 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 there are both Free and Paid WP themes made available. Free themes for WordPress are generally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are sold as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories vs Theme Shops
There are two places where you can find themes. The first place is in WP theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second place are the commercial and independent WordPress theme development firms.
WordPress theme marketplaces and theme directories are large aggregators of themes. theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers find 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 WP plugins and templates for other web applications (e.g. Joomla, Drupal, etc.)
Commercial and independent theme developers typically develop both free and commercial themes, and can vary in size, from an individual developer or a small team of theme designer, to large web and theme development companies.
As you will see, many commercial or independent theme stores 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best themes for your website.
Where To Find A Theme For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)
The official WordPress theme directory is the largest and best place to download WP themes for free. 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 put your computer, digital presence … 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 theme review team to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with their standards of quality and security.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find Themes Inside Your WordPress 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 inside your WP dashboard with 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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a orange 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 present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display without problems across all devices (e.g. your PC, tablet and smartphone) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and display only WP themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that there is no cost 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 built-in customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The ”cons” 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 dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask users for donations to help cover 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 last made, then you should think twice about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite often and this can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your website is still quite new, there is nothing wrong with using 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. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and helps to convert 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 your specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to paid themes.
Premium 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 responsive support, then search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
WP Theme Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and best-known theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are well over 15,000 premium WP themes to choose from (some starting from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view more 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 personal blogs and e-magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for legal sites or advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for creative work, freelancers, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to travel, holiday rentals, social directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for selling products online, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, dining out, 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. commercial property, etc.)
- Retail – themes for retail stores, trades or professionals (electricians, dentists, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to hosting, newsletters, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage consellor blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for writing or discussing environmental issues, 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 lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest marketplace here:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to see more themes on Creative Market)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme marketplace where you can browse 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 browse hundreds of themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Minimal or Wedding themes, etc.) using the site’s dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WP theme designers in the Creative Market theme directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the above images to browse all Mojo themes)
Mojo is a marketplace 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 browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. BuddyPress or Photography themes and theme frameworks, etc.) from the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo directory here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial WordPress theme developers.
Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Agencies
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a great selection of high quality WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on above images to view all SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates eye-catching premium themes and offers a membership option that gives you access to their entire theme collection.
(click on the above images to view more WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in 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 images above to see more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress provides 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 your 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 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 StudioPress themes use something called “child themes,” which are like a paint job that sits on top of the framework and gives your site its unique look and feel.
If this sounds way 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 entitles 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 view more StudioPress themes)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
Here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WordPress Theme Is That?
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free WP theme search tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme and plugins a website uses (including parent and child themes).
This is a great resource if you ever come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what WordPress theme the site is using.
Tip: If you don’t know whether a site was built using WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a site uses the WordPress CMS platform: Is It A WordPress Blog?
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 not only confirm if the site is built on the WordPress CMS platform, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use this tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn more about this tool go here: How To Check If A Web Site Was Built Using WordPress
Theme Authenticity Checker - WP Plugin
A word of warning: If you decide to use FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the themes listed in the official WordPress theme directory.
A commonly-used method employed by a number of hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WordPress themes all over the web and distribute themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on search engine results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free themes for WordPress”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org theme directory, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may contain malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress theme files. The plugin scans the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and then outputs a report …
(TAC Report Page – Source: WordPress.org Plugin)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and paid responsive themes for WordPress useful.
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