Where To Find The Best WordPress Themes

In an earlier article, we provide a comprehensive overview of WordPress Themes.

If you haven’t yet discovered WordPress themes and what makes themes so special, then make sure to check out this article: A Useful Guide To WP Themes

In this blog post, we explain where you can 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 how to avoid having to deal with problems like lack of support and poorly-coded themes.

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

Many professional web designers and web design firms create themes for WordPress. Consequently, members of the WordPress community can access thousands of unique WP themes covering a wide-range of uses.

Finding Great Great Themes For WordPress: How To Avoid Getting Overwhelmed

If you were to launch Google and type the following:

• best premium themes for WordPress
• WordPress themes free
• best responsive WordPress themes for musicians (enter whatever your business, area of interest or blog 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 really simple.

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Themes

Before we get started, you need to know that WordPress offers users both a hosted and a self-hosted version. We’ll explain these differences in a later post. In this post, we’ll 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 your web design.

Free vs Paid WP Themes

Next, it’s important to know that there are both Free and Paid WordPress themes being made available. Free WP themes are normally distributed as Free Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, or they will be listed as Premium (i.e. paid) themes.

Theme Marketplaces vs Commercial WordPress Theme Design Houses

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

Theme marketplaces and theme directories are big theme aggregators. WP theme developers (both commercial and independent) list their themes (both free and paid) in the marketplace or directory and customers find 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 theme shops typically create both free and premium WordPress themes, and can vary in size, from an individual designer or a small team of developer, to large theme design companies.

As you will see, many commercial or independent theme developers 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 WP themes for your website or blog.

Choosing A Theme Themes For Your Website Or Blog

WordPress.org

(WordPress.org – Themes Directory)

The official WordPress.org theme directory is the biggest and best place to search for 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 for this, is because –as many free software users have learned– downloading free software, add-ons, apps, templates or themes from untrustworthy places can contain malicious code and place your computer, digital presence … even your entire business at risk.

The WP theme directory is not only a trustworthy and reputable place to download themes for your WordPress site, but it also relies on a team of theme reviewers comprised of dedicated and hard working volunteers to review and ensure that each theme listed in the directory complies with their 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 Free WordPress Themes Without Leaving Your Own 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 start using it directly from inside your WP admin panel with a few clicks.

Use 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 easy to find themes with specific features. For example, you could search for themes with a pink colour design, with a 3-column layout and a full-width template, or themes that support custom menus, etc.

Note: in an earlier post where we present an overview of WordPress themes and discuss the importance of choosing “responsive” themes, we explained how responsive themes ensure that your theme will display without problems on all devices (e.g. laptops, tablets and smartphones) …

You should use responsive themes, and the WordPress theme filtering option lets you search across its entire database of free themes …

… and display only themes that have been built using “responsive” design standards …

Pros & Cons Of Using Free WP Themes

The obvious “pro” to using free themes is that it costs you nothing to download and use the theme on your site. An added plus, is that many free themes are professionally designed and come with a number of customizable features, 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 you shouldn’t expect the developer to provide urgent support, especially if they are not getting paid. Many freely distributed themes ask users for donations 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 it’s best to think twice about using it, as WordPress is frequently updated and new features can result in conflicts and errors with older code.

If you’re just getting started and your site is still relatively 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 any money on a theme. Who knows, the theme you downloaded for free could be exactly what works for you and for your business.

Now that we’ve seen how to find free themes in the WordPress.org theme directory and how to narrow down your search for themes that meet specific requirements, 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 responsive 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 WP theme marketplaces online.

ThemeForest allows many professional WordPress theme developers to showcase their designs through their online marketplace. There are over 15,000 premium themes to choose from (you can find great themes from as little as $3) …

(click on the images above to view more ThemeForest themes)

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 e-magazines, etc.
• Corporate – themes suitable for corporate sites and marketing purposes.
• Creative – themes suitable for design, ebook authors, etc.
• Directory Listings – themes suitable for sites related to travel, buy & sell, , etc.
• eCommerce – themes for online shopping, event bookings and registrations, etc.
• Education – themes that suit sites related to tutoring, etc.
• Entertainment – themes for fashion blogs, restaurants, 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. commercial property, etc.)
• Retail – themes for health products, trades or professionals (repairers, legal practitioners, etc.)
• Technology – themes related to apps, affiliate marketing, seo, product reviews, direct sales, etc.
• Wedding – e.g. themes for wedding sites and marriage counselling 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 sends you theme update notifications)

Browse lots of great premium themes in the ThemeForest theme marketplace here:

• ThemeForest

Creative Market

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

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

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

• Creative Market

Mojo Themes

(click on the above images to view more WP themes at Mojo.com)

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 WordPress themes, but you can easily find WP themes and narrow your search with theme categories (e.g. Responsive or eCommerce themes and theme frameworks, etc.) by selecting the dropdown “WordPress Themes” menu …

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

• Mojo Themes

Now that we have looked at WP theme marketplaces, let’s take a look at commercial theme development firms.

Commercial And Independent WordPress Theme Shops

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 above images to see all themes from SoloStream)

Woo Themes

Woo Themes creates functional premium themes for WordPress that are very popular and highly sought after by website users and also offers a membership option that lets you access all themes in their growing theme collection.

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

StoreFront

StoreFront specializes in creating 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 all themes from StoreFront)

StudioPress

StudioPress provides WordPress themes based on a framework that allows you 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 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 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 themes built with 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 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 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)

WordPress Theme-Checking Tools

Here are a couple of useful WordPress theme-related tools worth knowing about:

What WP Theme Is That – WordPress Theme And Plugin Checker

What WordPress Theme Is That? is a free WP theme and plugin-checking tool that allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme and plugins a site uses (including parent and child themes).

This is a great resource if you have come across a WordPress site that you like and would like to know what theme is being used on the site.

Tip: If you don’t know whether a site uses WordPress or not, we have posted a a great tutorial that helps you tell if a website was built using WordPress: How Can I 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 whether or not the site was built using the WP CMS platform, but it will also list the WordPress theme being used by the site and list any plugins detected.

• To use the online tool visit the website here: What WordPress Theme Is That
• To learn more about this tool go here: How Can I Check If My Website Was Built Using WordPress?

Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) – WP Plugin

A word of warning: When choosing FREE themes for your WordPress site, we highly recommend sticking with the reviewed and approved themes listed in the official WordPress theme repository.

A commonly-used tactic employed by a number of hacking groups and networks that engage in cyber-crime is to put up sites and directories offering “Free” themes for WordPress all over the web and distribute modified themes and plugins containing malicious code. In fact, some of these sites even come up on Google’s search results for phrases like “free WordPress themes“, “best free WordPress themes”” etc. It’s safer, therefore, to only download free themes from the official WordPress.org theme repository, or use established and reputable theme download sites.

If you are in doubt about whether a WordPress theme that you have installed on your blog could contain potentially malicious or unwanted code, you can use a free WordPress plugin like Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC) to scan your WordPress theme files. This plugin searches the source files of every installed theme on your site for signs of malicious code and then outputs a report …

(TAC Report Page – Screenshot Source: Plugin)

I hope that you have found the information on how to find great free and premium responsive themes for WordPress useful.

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