In a previous article, we provide 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 go here to read our article: A Practical Guide To WP Themes
In this article, you will learn where you can search for free and paid themes for your 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 how to avoid experiencing problems like lack of customer support and poor coding.
As we’ve explained in another article, a theme is a special type of web design template that is used on WordPress-powered sites and designed to work specifically with the WordPress platform in mind.
Many web designers and website development houses create themes for WordPress. Consequently, WordPress users can access thousands of uniquely-designed themes designed to cover a wide range of purposes.
Finding WP Themes: Your Time-Saving Guide
Let’s say you were to launch Google and search for key phrases like the following:
- best free WP themes
- best responsive themes for WordPress
- best free WordPress themes for writers (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 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 WordPress themes really 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 different article. In this post, we’ll only be focusing on finding 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 your site’s web design.
Free vs Paid WP Themes
Next, it’s useful to know that typically, you’ll find both Free and Paid WP themes being made available. Free themes for WordPress are normally distributed as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be listed as Premium (paid) themes.
Theme Directories Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Design Companies
There are two places where you can find WordPress themes. The first is in theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories. The second are the commercial and independent theme stores.
Theme marketplaces and WordPress theme directories are big aggregators of themes. WordPress theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and buyers shop for 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 WP theme development firms can also design both free and premium themes, and can vary in size, from an individual theme developer or a small team of designer, to large theme design companies.
Most commercial or independent 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 directories .
Let’s now show you where to search for great themes for your website or blog.
Choosing Responsive Themes For Your WP Website
WordPress.org
(WordPress.org – WP Theme 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 learned– 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 or blog, but it also uses a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers to review and ensure that each theme in the directory meets specific quality and security standards.
To browse thousands of great-looking FREE WordPress themes from the official Themes Repository, go here:
http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes
Find WP Themes Inside Your WordPress 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 activate it directly from within your WordPress admin panel with just a couple of 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 easier to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with predominantly dark color design, with a three-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” WordPress themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems across all devices (e.g. your visitors’ PCs, smartphones and tablets) …
It’s a good idea to use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering function lets you do just that …
… and display only themes that are “responsive” …
Pros & Cons Of Using Free WordPress Themes
The obvious “pro” to using free WordPress themes is that it costs you nothing to download and use the theme on your site. Additionally, many free themes are professionally designed and offer a number of customizable features, 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 developer to provide immediate support, especially if they are not getting paid. Most freely distributed themes will ask you for a donation to help cover costs of providing support.
When downloading free themes, therefore, check to see when the theme was last updated. If it’s been over a year since any change was made, then think carefully about downloading it, as the WordPress software changes quite frequently and this can result in conflicts and errors with older code.
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 premium themes or even on custom web design. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free may just be the thing that works for you and for your business.
Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and ways to filter your search for themes that meet specific requirements, let’s turn our attention to finding premium themes.
Premium 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 Marketplaces And Directories
ThemeForest
ThemeForest is one of the biggest and well known WP theme directories online.
ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme creators to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium themes listed (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …
(click on the images above to see more themes on ThemeForest)
If you visit the ThemeForest theme directory, you will be able to browse for specific WP themes in various categories, such as:
- Blog/Magazine – themes for bloggers and e-magazines, etc.
- Corporate – themes suitable for business sites and advertising purposes.
- Creative – themes suitable for video galleries, freelancers, etc.
- Directory Listings – themes that suit sites about travel, dining out & restaurants, social directories, etc.
- eCommerce – themes for e-commerce, membership sites, etc.
- Education – themes that suit sites related to training, etc.
- Entertainment – themes for entertainment blogs, nightlife, 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 retail stores, trades or professionals (plumbers, legal practitioners, etc.)
- Technology – themes related to software, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
- Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and dating advice blogs
- Miscellaneous – themes suitable for topics related to activism, 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 emails you theme update notifications)
Go here to browse many great premium WP themes in the ThemeForest website:
Creative Market
(click on the above images to view all Creative Market themes)
Creative Market is another leading WordPress theme directory 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 WordPress themes in its directory, but you can easily go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search using theme categories (e.g. Landing Page or Photography themes, etc.) using their dropdown “Themes” menu …
Browse through hundreds of quality premium WP themes crafted by independent WordPress theme designers in the Creative Market theme directory here:
Mojo Themes
(click on the images above to browse all themes at Mojo.com)
Mojo is a directory 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 go through all of their themes for WordPress and narrow your search with theme categories by selecting the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …
Visit the site to find quality premium themes in the Mojo marketplace here:
Now that we have looked at WP theme aggregators, let’s turn our attention to commercial WP theme vendors.
Commercial And Independent Theme Vendors
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 images above to browse more SoloStream themes)
Woo Themes
Woo Themes creates eye-catching premium themes and offers a membership option that allows you access to all themes in their theme collection.
(click on the images above to browse all WooThemes themes)
StoreFront
StoreFront specializes in WP 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 browse more themes from StoreFront)
StudioPress
StudioPress designs WordPress themes based on a framework (called the “Genesis” framework) that lets you 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 website developers prefer using 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 version of WordPress, but because you can update your themes 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 theme 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)
WP Theme-Checking Tools
To round things up, here are a couple of useful WP theme-related tools worth keeping in mind:
What WordPress Theme Is That – WordPress Theme Checker
What WordPress Theme Is That.com is a free online tool that lets you easily detect what WP theme 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 the site uses.
Tip: If you don’t know whether a site runs on WordPress or not, we have published a a great tutorial that shows you how to tell if a website is WordPress-driven: Is Your Website Built With 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, but it will also list the WP theme being used and list any plugins it detects.
- To use this online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That?
- To learn more about this tool go here: Is Your Site Powered By WordPress?
Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin
We said this before and it’s worth repeating it 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 tactic employed by a number of hacking groups and cyber criminals is to put up sites offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and then distribute modified 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 WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to stick with the official WordPress repository, or use well-known and reputable theme vendors.
If you are concerned about whether a WordPress theme installed on your blog may contain malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your theme files. This plugin scans the source files of every them you have installed on your site for signs of suspicious code and outputs a report as shown in the screenshot below …
(TAC Report Page – Source: Plugin Site, WordPress.org)
I hope that you have found this information useful.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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