Where To Find The Best WordPress Themes

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

If you haven’t yet discovered themes and what makes themes so revolutionary in terms of web design, then make sure to check out our article here: An Introduction to WP Themes

In this article, you will learn where to browse hundreds of free and paid themes for your WP 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 avoid experiencing problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.

As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a unique type of web template used on WordPress-powered websites and designed specifically with WordPress in mind.

Many individual web designers and website development agencies create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users enjoy access to thousands of quality themes designed for a wide range of website uses.

Finding Great Themes: How To Avoid Information Overload

If you were to fire up Google and search for the following:

• best WP themes
• best responsive WordPress themes
• best free WordPress themes for authors (type in whatever your business, area of interest 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 your life 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 need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll cover these differences in a separate post. For now, please note that we will only be focusing 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 your web design.

Free vs Paid WordPress Themes

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

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories Commercial And Independent Theme Design Companies

There are mostly 2 kinds of places where you can find themes. The first place is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme shops.

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 visitors search for these just like they would if they were shopping for apps on an app store or software marketplace.

Some of the larger 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 stores typically will develop both free and paid WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of developer, to large web and theme design and development companies.

Most commercial theme design houses 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 find great themes for your blog.

Where To Find Responsive Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Theme Directory)

The official WordPress.org 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 WP themes. The reason for this, 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 WP theme 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 comprised of dedicated and code-savvy volunteers to review and ensure that each theme in the directory meets certain standards of quality and security.

To browse thousands of excellent FREE WordPress themes from the official WP Themes Directory, go here:

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

You Don’t Even Have To Leave Your WordPress Dashboard

Useful Tip: You can easily browse through every WordPress theme in the WordPress directory and not only find what you are looking for, but also easily install and activate it directly from inside your WordPress admin panel with a couple of clicks.

Use The WordPress Theme Filters

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 a blue color design, with a 3-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” themes, we explained how these ensure that your theme will display correctly on all devices (e.g. computers, tablets and smartphones) …

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

… and display only WP themes that have been built using “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. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable settings, giving you great flexibility and choice in how you configure all of its various layout elements.

The downside of 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. 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 over one year since any changes were last made, then it’s best to think twice about downloading it, as the theme may have been abandoned by its developer.

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 premium themes or even on custom web design. Who knows, the free theme you’ve downloaded could be exactly what works for your site and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress theme directory and how to filter your search for themes that meet specific criteria, let’s turn our attention to finding paid themes.

Premium WP 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:

WP Theme Marketplaces And Directories

ThemeForest

ThemeForest is one of the biggest and well known WP theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WP theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium WordPress themes listed (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 WP themes in a range of categories, such as:

• Blog/Magazine – themes for personal blogs and activism blogs, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes for design, freelancers, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes ideal for sites related to travel, dining out & restaurants, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for ecommerce, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for fashion blogs, dining out, etc.
• Mobile – e.g. retina-ready themes.
• NonProfit – themes for nonprofit organizations, charities, etc.
• Real Estate – themes for real estate and real estate listings (e.g. rentals, etc.)
• Retail – themes for shopping, trades or professionals (plumbers, medical practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to software, newsletters, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and wedding advice blogs
• Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, 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 emails you theme update notifications)

Go here to discover quality premium themes in the ThemeForest theme directory:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

Creative Market is another leading WordPress 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily browse hundreds of WP themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Popular themes, etc.) using their dropdown “Themes” menu …

Browse through hundreds of great WordPress themes crafted by independent WordPress theme developers in the Creative Market theme directory here:

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to view 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 go through all of their WordPress themes and search through their theme categories (e.g. Responsive or Business themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by using the site’s dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo

Now that we have looked at WordPress theme aggregators, let’s look at commercial and independent WP theme development firms.

Commercial Theme Vendors

SoloStream

SoloStream provides WordPress users with a selection of high quality premium WordPress themes and the option of accessing all themes through a WordPress theme membership.

(click on images above to view all SoloStream themes)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates eye-catching WordPress themes that are very popular and highly sought after by web users and also offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme collection.

(click on the above images to see all WooThemes themes)

StoreFront

StoreFront creates stunning 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 view more themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress builds WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that allows users to quickly and easily build a professional and search optimized WordPress website, and provides an auto-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 this framework frequently up-to-date to reflect best practices for coding and to ensure that themes remain always compatible with the latest WordPress version, but because you can update your themes without losing any customizations you may have made to your theme.

This is because themes built using 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 all 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 above images to see more StudioPress themes)

WP Theme-Checking Tools

To round things up, here are a few more useful WP theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WordPress Theme Is That?

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free online tool that allows you to easily detect what WP 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 can’t tell whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a site was built using WordPress: How To Tell If A Website 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 not only confirm if a site was built using WordPress software, but it will also list the theme being used and list any plugins detected.

• To use the online tool go here: What WordPress Theme Is That.com
• To learn how to use this tool go here: Does My Blog Run On WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC)

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

A well-known method used by many hackers and cyber criminals is to put up websites offering “Free” WP themes all over the web and then distribute themes and plugins with malicious code embedded in their files. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for key phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress directory, or use well-known and reputable theme merchants.

If you are in doubt 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 scan your WordPress theme files. The plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of suspicious code and then presents you with a report as shown in the screenshot below …

(Theme Authenticity Checker Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

We hope that you have found this information useful.

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