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Free WordPress Themes

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Where to find free WordPress themes

If you'd like to download free WordPress themes, start here. My links lead to thousands of them.

You don't need to know HTML to have a great looking website. Follow my advice: Start with a good, flexible, free WordPress theme.

WordPress. org is your best resource, but I'll share many other with you, too.

Sites that Soar

Help for individuals and businesses creating their first WordPress websites.
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Where to find free WordPress themes

Links to some of the largest sites

WordPress.net Theme Viewer
The motherlode, tested and official.
Wordpress Themes
Wordpress Themes - large collection.
Download free WordPress themes - Free WP Themes
99+ free WordPress themes.
BGThemes.com: Free Wordpress Themes - Blog Themes
Directory and collection of free blog themes for Wordpress and other blogging platforms.
Free WordPress templates, plugins
Even more free WordPress themes, including some that are a little different.
Free Wordpress Themes - Kate’s Theme Viewer
Download free themes for your Wordpress blog or upload your own themes!
Free Professional themes for Wordpress 2.5, 2.3 and 2.1
FREE Wordpress themes at SiteGround.com. New themes every week!
Search Engine Optimized Free Wordpress Theme | TheWeblogZone
Search Engine Optimized Free Wordpress Themes designed by Chris Pearson guaranteed to improve your blog's traffic from search engine and rank on search engine result page.

Favorite free magazine-style themes

If you'd like your website to look like the front page of a newspaper or magazine, these themes are ideal.
Mimbo
Darren Hoyt, one of the original developers of magazine-style themes, provides Mimbo, a versatile WordPress theme.
(More) WordPress Magazine Themes - Theme Playground
Reviews of even more WordPress magazine-style themes.
Best Free Magazine Style WordPress Themes
Another great review site, with screenshots.
Top 10 Wordpress Magazine Style Themes
Yet another review site, featuring just the top 10 magazine-style themes.
Sites that Soar!
Free ebook with step-by-step instructions and lots of screenshots for installing and tweaking magazine-style themes.

How to install free WordPress themes

Most WordPress themes install easily.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, click on Appearances.

2. Then, click on Themes.

3. Then, click on Install Themes. (It'll be the faded tab near the top of the page.)

4. Upload a theme you already have on your hard drive (in zipped format) or search for a theme at WordPress.org.

5. Preview the theme to see how it looks.

6. Activate it.

Yes, just a series of clicks. That's all there is to it!

Most themes are ready to use, as is, but...

Optional: Tweak the theme as necessary. Generally, this means working with the CSS file/s, and perhaps the PHP file.

Some are easier to tweak than others. Some themes include comments in the code, to indicate what you can change.

Most changes can be figured out with trial-and-error, even if you have little or no HTML experience.

(If you're using a magazine-style theme such as Branford Magazine or Mimbo, you can find step-by-step help and screenshots in the ebook, Sites that Soar!)

Related Squidoo Lenses

If you like WordPress themes, visit these lenses, too!

Branford Magazine
More information and helpful links for the popular Branford Magazine WordPress theme.
Best WordPress Themes
Great lens with useful links and tips for WordPress enthusiasts.
AdSense-ready WordPress themes
If prominent AdSense placement is an important part of your website, these themes are worth considering.
Free Blog Template
More than just WordPress, this lens focuses on women and blogging, too.

Helpful WordPress books

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Blogger posts about WordPress Themes

Top CMS Themes Has Just Released Their Custom Search Engine for the Best ...
Top CMS Themes has created a new way of helping out designers, website developers and hobbyists who are interested in building their websites, by allowing them to search and easily find the best WordPress themes to match their exact needs.
TCWH Announces Best WordPress Hosting 2012
The leading web hosting review site Top-Cheap-Web-Hosting.com announces that WebHostingHub is the award winner for Best WordPress Hosting 2012, which is rated based on the WordPress loading speed; WordPress templates, themes and plugins; reliability; ...
A new website on your smaller budget
Well, in Wordpress, ?there's a plug-in for that.? Useful plug-ins for Wordpress include image slideshows, Google Analytics, e-commerce solutions, redirections, video, social media and so much more. There are thousands of Wordpress themes (sites) out ...
At Long Last, A Unified WordPress Dashboard
Take, for example, when WordPress or any of its themes or plugins update. If you run or own even two or three WordPress blogs, you have to go into each one to manage the updates on each. With ManageWP, you can update all themes, plugins and WordPress ...
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Pros & cons of free WordPress themes

Free WordPress themes have clear pros and cons.

They're free. That's a big plus.

They're easy to install (see my summary, above).

However, most aren't supported -- after all, they're free -- so if you're not sure how to customize them, you could meet considerable frustration trying to get your site to look "just so."

On the other hand, there are books to help you, such as Sites that Soar, and WordPress for Dummies, etc., so you're not without resources.

Or, you could hire someone through eLance, etc., to tweak your free WordPress theme for you.

Or, you could ask a friend.

The point is, you can start with a free WordPress theme. Even better, it can look just as good as (or better than) a price-y custom theme.

The best resource for free WP themes is the official WordPress site. They're the first resource in my links list, below.

Most themes are safe to use, but -- if you're worried -- use a site such as the WordPress official site, where themes are double-checked for security.

Favorite free WP theme?

Tell us what you like and where to find it

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Jane_Christmas

WordPress enthusiast with far too many websites... most using WordPress with the free Branford Magazine theme.

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