Getting Started with Free Themes

WordPress comes packaged with one very useful default theme called Twenty

Nineteen (named after the year 2019 and released in version 5.0 of WordPress).

Most bloggers who use WordPress usually don’t waste any time at all in finding a

theme that they like better than the default theme. The Twenty Nineteen theme is

meant to get you started. Although you’re not limited to the default theme, it’s a

very functional theme for a basic website. Feel free to use it to get started.

Free WordPress themes are popular because of their appealing designs and their

ease of installation and use. They’re great tools to use when you launch your new

site, and if you dabble a bit in graphic design and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets),

you can customize one of the free WordPress themes to fit your needs. (See Book 6,

chapters 4 and 5 for some resources and tools for templates and template tags, as

well as a few great HTML and CSS references.)

With thousands of free WordPress themes available and new ones appearing all

the time, your challenge is to find the right one for your site. Here are a few things

to remember while you explore. (Also see the nearby sidebar “Are all WordPress

themes free?” for information about free versus commercial themes.)

• Free themes are excellent starting places. Find a couple of free themes, and use them as starting points for understanding how themes work and what you can do with them. Testing free themes, their layouts, and their options helps you identify what you want in a theme.
• You’ll switch themes frequently. Typically, you’ll find a WordPress theme that you adore and then, a week or two later, find another theme that fits you or your site better. Don’t expect to stay with your initial choice. Something new will pop up on your radar screen. Eventually, you’ll want to stick with a theme that fits your needs best and doesn’t aggravate visitors because of continual changes.
• You get what you pay for. Although a plethora of free WordPress themes exists, largely, you receive limited or no support for them. Free themes are often a labor of love. The designers have full-time jobs and responsibilities; they often release these free projects for fun, passion, and a desire to contribute to the WordPress community. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect (or demand) support for these themes. Some designers maintain very active and helpful forums to help users, but those forums are rare. Just be aware that with most free themes, you’re on your own.

• Download themes from reputable sources. Themes are essentially pieces of software. Therefore, they can contain things that could be scammy, spammy, or potentially harmful to your site or computer. It’s vital that you do your homework by reading online reviews and downloading themes from credible, trusted sources. The best place to find free WordPress themes is the Themes Directory of the WordPress website (see Figure 2-1) at https://wordpress.org/themes.

ARE ALL WordPress THEMES FREE? 

Not all WordPress themes are created equal, and it’s important for you, the user, to know the difference between free and premium themes:

• Free: These themes are free, period. You can download and use them on your website at absolutely no cost. It’s a courtesy to include a link to the designer in the footer of your site, but you can remove that link if you want to.
• Commercial: These themes cost money. You usually find commercial themes available for download only after you’ve paid anywhere from $10 to $500. The designer feels that these themes are a cut above the rest and, therefore, are worth the money you spend for them. Commercial themes also come with a mechanism to obtain support for the use of the theme. Generally, you aren’t allowed to remove any designer credits that appear in these themes, and you aren’t allowed to redistribute the themes. See “Exploring Premium Theme Options” later in this chapter for information about where to find premium themes.