In another post, we provide new WordPress users with a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.
If you haven’t yet discovered WP themes and what makes themes so attractive to website owners, then make sure to check out the article here: An Introduction to WP Themes
In this article, we will show you where you can browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your website. 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 dealing with problems like lack of product support and poorly-coded themes.
As we’ve explained in our previous post, a WordPress theme is a special kind of web template used on WordPress-powered websites and blogs and designed to work specifically on the WP platform.
Many individual website designers and website design firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of unique themes covering an extensive range of uses and applications.
Where To Find Themes: Let’s Simplify Things!
If you were to browse over to Google and search for key phrases like the following:
- best free themes for WordPress
- best free themes for WordPress
- best responsive WordPress themes for artists (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 your life easier, we’ll 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 need to know that WordPress offers both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate post. In this post, we’ll only be covering the topic of 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 useful to know that there are both Free and Paid themes being made available. Free WP themes are generally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they are sold as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.
Theme Directories vs Theme Stores
There are mostly 2 kinds of places where you can find WP themes. The first place is in theme marketplaces and theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme houses.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress 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 shop for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.
Some of the bigger marketplaces 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 WordPress theme agencies can design 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 and development companies.
Many commercial 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 WordPress theme directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for the best themes for your blog.
Finding The Best Themes For Your Website Or Blog
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)
The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to download WordPress themes for free. In fact, it’s probably the only free WordPress theme directory you should use when looking for free WP themes. The reason why, is because –as some 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 directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your website or blog, but it also uses a review team to review and ensure that each theme in the directory complies with specific quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of professionally-designed FREE WordPress themes from the official WordPress Themes Directory, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WordPress Themes Inside Your WordPress Dashboard
Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress 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 dashboard with only a few clicks.
Use The WordPress Theme Feature Filter
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 blue color design, with a three-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.
Note: in an earlier article where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of using “responsive” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes allow your site to be viewed without problems across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ PCs, tablets and smartphones) …
You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filter lets you do just that …
… and bring up only themes that use “responsive” design standards …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it’s free to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of built-in customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.
The downside to using free WP themes are that your themes may not get updated as often with new features and bug fixes, and you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide dedicated support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask 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 more than 1 year since any changes were made, then it’s best to think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software is frequently updated and new features can result in conflicts or errors with older code.
If you’re just getting started and your site 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 premium themes. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for you and your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to narrow down your search for themes that meet your specific criteria, it’s time to turn our attention to paid 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 ongoing support, you can search through the WordPress theme galleries of the “Premium” theme design agencies listed below:
Theme Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the largest and best-known WordPress theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 17,500 premium WP themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to view all ThemeForest themes)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific themes in a range of categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and news editorials, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for government sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for visual galleries, freelancers, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites related to directory listings, buy & sell, tourism directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to teaching, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for film & tv blogs, music venues, etc.
- Mobile – e.g. responsive 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 health products, trades or professionals (plumbers, engineering, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to apps, landing pages, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and romance tips and advice 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)
Go here to browse many quality premium themes in the ThemeForest site:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to browse all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory 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 WordPress themes in its marketplace, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and search through their theme categories (e.g. Blog or Commerce themes, etc.) from their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of great themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market themes directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to view more themes at Mojo)
Mojo is a marketplace for premium 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 WordPress themes, but you can easily browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories by choosing the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find great themes in the Mojo themes directory here:
Now that we have looked at WordPress theme directories, let’s take a look at commercial theme agencies.
Commercial WordPress Theme Development Firms
SoloStream
SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of professional quality premium WP themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.
(click on images above to view more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes designs stunning WordPress themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offer a membership option that allows you to access all themes in their growing theme collection.
(click on the images above to see more themes from WooThemes)
StoreFront
StoreFront Themes specializes in WordPress 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 see all themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a 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 web developers prefer using 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 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 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 design.
If this 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 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 above images to see all themes from StudioPress)
Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a few more useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:
What WP 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 and plugins a website or blog uses.
This is a great resource if you ever 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 whether a site uses WordPress or not, go here for a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website was built using WordPress: Was My Website Built Using WordPress? Tell-Tale Signs & WordPress-Checking Tools
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 was built on WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.
- To use the online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
- To learn how to use this tool go here: Is Your Website Powered By WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)
We said 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 themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.
A well-known method used by many hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute modified themes that contain malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even display on Google for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s best, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress repository, or use well-known and trusted theme merchants.
If you have any concerns about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your site may contain 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 scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of injected code and outputs a report with the results …
(TAC Report Page – Screenshot: Plugin)
I hope that you have found the information on how to find the best free and premium responsive themes for WordPress useful.
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