Best Wordpress Themes

A list of the best Wordpress themes: both free and premium blog, magazine and newspaper style themes that turn your Wordpress blog into an authority site: complete with organized content, images, videos, ad spots and more!

Updated for May 2009 (finally!)

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See a list of the best Premium (not free) Wordpress Themes

See a list of the best Free Wordpress Themes

Best Wordpress Themes 101

For the Total Beginner...You'll actually need Wordpress, first!

Wordpress has quickly become the most versatile blogging software platform. It's free, you can install it on your own server, and use your own URL. Finding a great Wordpress theme is difficult - I've found the ones from Wordpress' Theme repository to look at little too elementary, and searching for "best wordpress themes" on Google yields a billion results (none of which I truly agreed were the "best" ones, either). I wanted something more professional looking, without having to pay $60+ for a template. So, see below for what I consider the best, most professional, and/or most expendable themes out there right now!

Wordpress.com is the site that hosts a Wordpress blog for you. Pros: Nothing to download, a server account isn't needed. Cons: zero customization, very little expandability. If you're going this route, ignore the rest of this web page, as you won't be able to install themes, anyway! [A tip, however: Use Wordpress.com to register important keyword-entitled pages, and link them to your website!]

Wordpress.org is the site where you can download the Wordpress blog software and run it on your server. You'll have total control over the look and feel of your blog using this method. Pros: 100% design/control over your blog, ability to use a URL for your blog. Cons: You need a hosting account (big deal, they're cheap nowadays!)

Wordpress MU or "Multi User" is a sub-project of Wordpress.org. It's the same exact software, re-structured to allow your visitors to create their own blogs within your blog - turning Wordpress into a massive, unlimited social networking site. Wordpress MU generally uses the same templates and plugins as its regular counterpart, although some plugins have conflicts and must be tested.

Want to hack a Wordpress theme to your liking? Check out Wordpress' Wordpress Template Tag/Wordpress Syntax tutorial.

What to Look For in A Wordpress Theme

Important attributes that shouldn't be ignored!

Customizable: Themes should be customizable to an extent. Unfortunately, some theme authors make it impossible to edit or remove parts of the theme, if you're not a template programmer. Other times, you'll install that favorite theme of yours, go into the admin panel, and see that it barely has any options at all for customization - which will be a disappointment, and a hindrance to the future of your Wordpress blog.

Going With Popular Themes: Don't go with a theme that was made 2 years ago, or is from a site that hasn't been updated since then. Since Wordpress changes with each version, you'll want a theme author who is going to be updating that theme. It would be a tragedy to have an unsupported theme, especially after all of the hard work you'll put into the look and feel of your blog.

Gravatars: They're mini-icons or avatars that your visitors display when they post a comment on your blog. Gravatars are Wordpress-universal and show up on all supported blogs, provided that the user has a free Gravatar account. Even if a theme doesn't have it, you can simply install it yourself, as long as you have beginner's HTML experience.

Load Time: Test out any theme you're planning on going with, not only on the official demo, but on your server. I once went with a beautiful theme that happened to take 30 seconds (sometimes longer!) to load. I had to weed through the support forum to find out that this is an unfortunate side effect due to its programming, and it could not be fixed at present.

Search Engine Friendly Themes: Themes should be devised in a way so that you'll get noticed on Google and other search engines. From what I've read, Google likes blogs that have the editorial on the left (i.e. no left-hand bar), and of course, whatever columns you have to the right are fine. Make sure content isn't trapped within Ajax, Flash, or anything else that will nullify your chances of a search engine reading the content.

Widget-ready: These themes can use sidebar "widgets" - which are selectable, draggable modules that lie on the sidebar of the theme (usually the right-hand side). They include calendars, tag clouds, badges, social bookmark icons and more. This is mainly a feature of convenience as the alternate method is to simply add modules yourself, going forward.

Free Themes vs. Premium (not free) Themes: For a more cost effective solution - see if free Wordpress themes suit your needs. Free Wordpress themes help save money, but may need significant manual tweaks and customization for the best results. Premium themes are not free, because they have a far greater level of design and coding for a more professional look. Typically costing between $50-$100, a Premium theme is a must for a site that you intend to be an "authority site." Remember, looks are usually half the battle when looking to get brand identity and credibility on the internet!

Warning: Have You Secured Wordpress?

I thought you should know this (if you're a Wordpress newbie...excuse the reiteration!) - do not download or use outdated Wordpress themes, you'll regret it! Unless you're a master coder, you may experience ongoing problems as Wordpress releases updates in the upcoming years, that may show some undesirable results with outdated themes. Be wary of themes whose author's home pages no longer exist, or no longer support their own theme. You do not want to put hard work into a site that is going to get chopped to pieces after upgrading Wordpress in the future! It was worth repeating this warning twice, as it is best to eliminate potential headaches before they happen.

Warning

Wordpress updates almost always contain security fixes. Therefore, it is in your best interest to NEVER ignore the "A new update is available" notice in your admin panel. Updating Wordpress is so simple - just drag and drop the new files on top of your existing ones, visit the update link, and you're set.

Warning

Never leave un-unpdated plugins to sit dormant in your plugin folder. Un-updated plugins are a massive security risk! Make sure your plugins are compatible by checking this official Wordpress Plugin Compatibility List.

Warning

Wordpress Security: Exercise common sense, and be sure to never leave your Wordpress theme files open as security threats. Never CHMOD these files to anything above 644! Be sure to do this after you're done editing your template files.

Warning

Password protect the "wp-admin" folder through cPanel, or your whatever other software your server uses. Contact your server admin to find out how to do this, if you don't know. Once complete, you'll have two security layers to get into your Wordpress site. It's a slight inconvenience that gives great peace of mind!

Lastly, be sure to read this awesome guide to securing Wordpress...you'll thank yourself!

My Picks for the Best Wordpress Themes

These are subjective picks that you may or may not agree with ;)

I'll continually add the best Wordpress themes I come across as they're developed. These choices are based on my personal preference - I tend to like themes that look very "Web 2.0-ish," clean, compact, organized, with great use of typefaces, or overall eye-appealing and easy to navigate. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Premium Themes

Professional themes (not free): made for serious website builds. They include affordable solutions for freelancers who are looking to mass-produce Wordpress sites for their clients

Agent Theme

Business Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Created to showcase products or properties for sale

A super-sleek theme that puts everything in just the right spot, try out the demo!

Front page featured article box dynamically shifts through featured articles

Thumbnails dedicated to each post through the back-end panel

Featured video, ad spots, and RSS feed sharing

See a Demo or Purchase Agent Theme.

Album Theme

Gallery style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Got a photo or art gallery? Let this be one of your top choices!

Put your images front-and-center

Image thumbs make navigation super easy for your visitors

All images link to their own dedicated page with content that you can add

See A Demo or Purchase Wordpress Album Theme.

Aperture Theme

Gallery Style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Made specifically for photo blogs

Minimalist design that draws full attention to your photos!

Homepage slider, various Javascript effects and more to "jazz" up Wordpress

Includes 12 color schemes + 7 custom widgets

Has an automatic image resizer

Everything was coded with SEO in mind

See a Demo or Purchase Aperture Theme

Church Theme

Magazine Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

One of the most popular premium Wordpress themes EVER made!

A full-fledged magazine theme with all the bells and whistles

Featured articles cycle on the front page, and each post gets its own thumbnail

Ultimate layout for Adsense and affiliate banner placement

See A Demo or Purchase Church Theme.

Corporate Wordpress Theme

Busniess Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

One sleek & sexy looking Wordpress theme for small businesses

Minimalist design reduces clutter and draws full attention to your main pages

Sift through featured articles automatically with a dynamic front page box (see demo)

Integrate your business intro with your own Youtube videos

Perfect mix between "static" business statement pages and blog pages

It's SEO perfection: optimize pages fully with this light-weight theme

See A Demo or Purchase Wordpress Corporate Theme.

eGamer Theme

Gaming Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A mind-blowing theme for gaming websites!

Compete with the best-designed gaming sites out there, with thumbnailed articles, star ratings, featured dynamic article boxes and tons more (see the demo)

You won't believe you're actually using Wordpress when you install this theme!

See A Demo or Purchase Wordpress eGamer Theme.

Flash News Theme

Portal style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A Flash optimized (but still SEO compliant) theme

Beautiful scrolling front page box gently sifts through all of your chosen featured articles - NICE.

Soft, subtle and completely web 2.0

Efficient design makes for a perfect balance of content, advertising and extras

See a Demo or Purchase Flash News Theme.

Gazette Edition Theme

Newspaper Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Inspired by CNN.com

Sifting front page featured article graphics with custom titles that you choose

Neat, organized boxes for secondary featured articles on the front page

Multiple page templates & much more

See a Demo or Purchase Gazette Edition Theme.

Gridline Magazine Theme

Magazine Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Makes extensive use of custom queries & fields

Transforms your blog into a full-blown Magazine or news Web site

Utilizes Blueprint: a CSS framework that streamlines development by utilizing an easy-to-use grid and sensible typography

See a Demo or Purchase Gridline Magazine theme.

Groovy Theme

Video Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Yes, Wordpress can become an *awesome* video site with this theme!

Multiple color schemes included

Each video gets featured on its own individual page, with content you create

Includes star ratings & custom widgets for expanded video site features

See a Demo or Purchase Groovy Theme.

High-Def Wordpress Theme

Newspaper Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Mac-style sliding content region

Built in HD video player with full-screen capabilities

A theme settings page with makes every element on the homepage optional and configurable

Automatic post thumbnails

Cool Flickr-esque drop down navigation

Cross-browser compliant

Five widgetized areas

Custom fields for multimedia support

Blueprint CSS, cross-browser compliant, Wordpress 2.6+

See a Demo or Purchase High-Def theme.

Omni Theme

Magazine Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Available in 4 color schemes & a discounted developer's package

As web 2.0 as it gets: beautifully designed, and utilizing social web 2.0 services, Flickr, Youtube, AJAX and much more (see the demo for all features)

Well organized layout for optimal content and advertising performance

Widget ready

Completely customizable

See Demo or Purchase Omni Theme Here.

Open Air Theme

Business Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

One damn great choice for a business website theme

Grid-structure theme with 2 modes: business magazine style or blog style!

Includes a built-in video aggregator

Completely widgetized sidebar

Comes with a host of different color versions (see demo!)

See a Demo or Purchase Open Air Theme.

Lifestyle Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A very professional magazine-style layout WP theme

Dynamic shuffling featured articles on the front page, dedicated post thumbnails

Youtube & Feedburner.com integration

Custom post templates for amazing content & ad space synergy

See A Demo or Purchase Lifestyle Wordpress Theme

Review Site Theme

Rating Site Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

It's the only way (believe me, I've searched for ages) to turn Wordpress into a professional review site for anything you desire: movie reviews, product reviews, service reviews, website reviews, etc! Each review topic (supplied by you or your visitors, if you choose) is presented in an orderly fashion, with 5 star ratings for 4 categories and a full-page section for each, showing all reviews and ratings. Drop in your advertisements to earn money, and you're good to go!

A truly professional way to turn Wordpress into a community ratings site

Comes with a plugin AND theme in one package

Includes bonus affiliate tools

Free lifetime support & upgrades

Works on both WP posts and pages!

See a Demo or Purchase WP Review Site here.

Tubular Theme

Video Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Turn Wordpress into a video site!

Pull videos from all major video sharing services, or use your own files

Each video gets its own dedicated page, for content (and SEO!)

Comes in "dark" (black/gray) and "light" (white) color schemes

See A Demo or Purchase Tubular Wordpress Theme.

TV Elements Theme

Video Portal Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

From the creator of the OnDemand Wordpress video theme comes this amazing addition! TV Elements is a dark theme with a heavy emphasis on video showcasing. A front page sifter box scrolls through videos in a queue that you've chosen, complete with a description area for SEO purposes, and a space saving design that makes it easy for readers to bookmark, share and subscribe to your RSS. If you're a digital artist or in the video business, this is perfect for your portfolio website.

A flash video theme with SEO in mind!

Sift through featured videos on the front page

Blog post pages include featured video bar

The ultimate Wordpress theme for those looking to showcase specific videos!

See a Demo or Purchase TV Elements Theme | Multi-Site | Developer Pack

Vibrant CMS Theme

Business style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Got a small business or LLC? Use it for your company site!

"Sliding" featurette box on home page guides your visitors down a path!

Comes with 20 (yes, 20) amazing color combos

Coded to be fast: no junky PHP or CSS here

Automatic image resizing features

Buy one, get one free!

See a Demo or Purchase Vibrant CMS Theme.

WooTube Theme

Video Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

For those wanting to create a Youtube clone with Wordpress (or close to it!)

Pull in videos from Youtube, Vimeo, Veoh & many others (or, use your own video files)

Super SEO-friendly interface puts content in high priority

Custom widgets included to get the most out of your video exhibition experience (ratings and all)

See a Demo or Purchase the WooTube Wordpress Theme.

WP-Remix Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Beautiful, modern theme!

Perfect layout for a small business site

14 sub-page templates, 5 home page layouts and over 20 custom layouts!

Widget ready

Coded to be SEO friendly

The most affordable premium theme of them all

See a Demo or Purchase WP-Remix.

Free Themes

Free solutions to re-designing your Wordpress sites. Free themes are great for non-developers, but typically have less support and lifespans than premium themes.

Arthemia Theme

Magazine Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Super structured to make articles easy to find (and read)

News, Feature and Preview articles are layed out uniquely on the front page for that real 'magazine theme' feel

Plenty of room for your ad banners & boxes!

Download Arthemia Here.

Blogging Pro Wordpress Theme

Blog style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Super clean layout - lots of white space

Optimized for banner & box ads

Very basic, with a simple look and feel for your readers

Download Blogging Pro Theme here.

CSS Gallery Wordpress Theme

Gallery Wordpress Theme | Best Wordpress Themes

If you're looking to focus on making Wordpress an image gallery & rating site, this is the theme for you. Check out a demo of it here.

Clean thumbnail oriented layout

Includes star ratings, tagging and 6 125x125 box ad spaces

Download CSS Gallery here.

Forte Wordpress Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme

A simple yet effective 2-column Wordpress theme. Try the demo, here.

AJAX box on upper right sifts through various default Wordpress features.

Requires various (helpful) plugins, like Get Recent Comments, Popularity Contest, Most Commented Posts and more - which keep your site looking fresh

Adds a new section in the admin panel under "Presentation" for easy modification of the theme!

Download Forte here.

Gabfire Wordpress Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

This brand new theme features a clean magazine style format with a few noteworthy options. Check out a demo, here.

Has dropdown navigation

Multiple ad spots for Adsense or affiliate box ads

Multiple page & post templates

Footer-based backlinks to the designer are a requirement, there appears to be no donation option to remove them.

Download Gabfire Magazine Wordpress Theme here.

Gamezine Theme

Gaming Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Designed to turn Wordpress into a game review site

3-column layout

Built-in multi level drop-down menus

Plenty of ad box placement opportunities

Download Wordpress Gamezine here.

Hamasaki Wordpress Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A beautiful theme that shouldn't be free (but I'm not complaining) - Hamasaki has an amazing front page layout where everything just seems to fit perfectly. Lots of space for articles AND ads make it both attractive and effective. There's even a perfect spot set out for a skyscraper ad on the right side - nice.

Widget ready

125x125 and 120x600 ad ready

Page comment templates

Uses custom images for posts

CAPTCHA support

Download Hamasaki here.

Illacrimo Wordpress Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme

3-column layout

Supports Gravatar, Flickr RSS & Pagenavi

Widget ready version also available

Download Illacrimo Theme here.

Infinity Theme

Gallery style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A gallery theme with a soft, vector-y look and feel

Widget ready & able to perform a "mash-up" of RSS and other inclusions

Designed to be a gallery - not ideal when used as a blog or magazine site

Download Infinity WP Theme here.

iTheme Blog Wordpress Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Looks like a Mac interface, very clean.

Customize the side bar via drag & drop

Requires a footer linkback (might annoy some people).

Download iTheme Blog here.

Mimbo Wordpress Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Clean, well-layed out magazine theme

Easy-to-read text, well done CSS stylesheet

Showcase your current top articles on the left

Assign thumbnails to posts

Overall: extremely neat and organized

Download Mimbo here.

Morning After Wordpress Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Magazine-style layout

3-column home page

Associate thumbnails with posts

Asides

"Featured" posts

Download Morning After here.

Notepad Chaos Theme

Blog style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Awesomely artistic theme! Tons of eye appeal.

Strictly a blog theme: use it for your personal website/blog only

Plain and simple content layout, with recent posts highlighted for your viewers.

Download Notepad Chaos here.

Timeless Perceptions Wordpress Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A well designed blogger's template for Wordpress. See a demo of it here.

Compatible with 2.2.1, 2.2.2 and 2.3

Adsense ready

Download Timeless Perceptions here.

WP-Polaroid Wordpress Theme

Traditional style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

A clean, organized Web 2.0 blog theme with an attractive header area that puts your most important info (a blurb, links or whatever you want) right in the visitor's prime viewing area. Scroll down for beautifully organized 3-column layout (body area + 2 thin columns on the right) with box ad spaces. See a demo here, although only the front page of the demo seems to work.

Built-in Flickr & MyBlogLog features

Makes everything easy for the reader to find

Download WP-Polaroid here.

Zinmag Wordpress Theme

Magazine style Wordpress theme | Best Wordpress Themes

Includes hover menus & speedy featured article scroll bar

Right sidebar area gives ample room for Twitter feed, box ads, tag cloud & more

Comment area includes Gravatar capability

Download Zinmag here.

Best Wordpress Themes & Wordpress Monetization Tips

Woo Themes: Revolutionizing the Wordpress Theme As We Knew It

The 2008 boom in creating Wordpress themes spawns a new theme factory. "Woo Themes:" don't let the strange name fool you: this company is going places - take a closer look at how they've brought the affordable premium Wordpress theme to a whole new l...

Top 10 Best Wordpress Magazine Themes

See the top 10 best Wordpress Magazine-style Themes that you can't miss! Before you re-design your site (or simply need inspiration), you've got to check these out:

WP Remix Premium Wordpress Theme

WP Remix has positioned itself as the mix-and-match Wordpress theme. It certainly is the only theme that lets you pick and choose what you want, and how you want each page to look through an innovative layout editor. Take a closer look!

Wordpress Premium News Theme

Wordpress goes professional with the CMS-fashioned Premium News Theme family. Turn Wordpress into an authority site with the click of a button, as Premium News transforms your site into a rich portal!

Wordpress Revolution Theme

If you're looking for a magazine style theme for Wordpress: look no further! The Revolution Theme family turns Wordpress into a CMS and takes your site "beyond the blog"

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