Every week I’m asked by readers to recommend a WordPress template.
I thought it’d make an interesting discussion – which WordPress templates are your favorites?
I know it always varies from blog to blog when you’re choosing the best template for the job but I’d love to see some of your favorites.
Feel free to nominate both Free and Paid ones.
This really is perfect timing for me. I’ve been looking for a WP template and have not been able to find one that I like. I look forward to seeing what people put forward.
The Masked Millionaire
My own blog (pomomusings.com) runs off a tweaked version of a WordPress template I designed a year and a half ago: Cleaker.
http://pomomusings.com/design/
Since then, it’s been downloaded over 20,000 times and…well…that’s got to count for something. It’s a 3-col, clean, easily customizable design.
I’ve grown to love the Simplicity theme (http://koch-werkstatt.de/2007/03/24/wordpress-theme-simplicity/) on my main blog (jebers.com). It’s clean, easy to modify and, I hope, easy to read.
Cutline. It’s awesome. Easily customizable and super super clean.
my site runs off a highly modified version of upstart blogger’s ub modicus 2c theme, its a really nice theme by default, and easily customizable
I just setup the Revolution magazine theme on one of my sites.
It’s got lots of great advanced features that I’m really happy with.
I like the Statement theme by http://www.blogohblog.com
it has a nice 3-column, simple, clean design
you can see it in use at my blog http://livingthedash.tv
No WordPress theme discussion is complete without mentioning Derek Punsalan. Definitely one of my favourite developers.
We’re using Revolution News, which I absolutely love.
I like the one I use. A lot.
I love the freshnews theme by adii. I use is on my blog:
http://www.gabejacobsblog.com/
It was well worth the money. No other free theme feels this good to write on.
Options theme by Justin Tadlock : This is an amazing theme.
I’m going to have to recommend http://diythemes.com/thesis/ by Chris Pearson.
The options panel for the theme is by far the most comprehensive I have ever seen. In addition, it’s built with Search Engines and Typography standards in mind.
After trying several free themes, I decided to buy “News” by Quommunication for Shtikl.com. Although my site is mostly ’bout cartoons, the News-theme feels good and is a suitable canvas for the content (that’s what a theme should be, I guess).
Sandbox and Blog.txt from http://www.plaintxt.org/
Thematic from http://themeshaper.com/thematic-for-wordpress/
Alister Cameron is meant to be porting his own Sandbox based upon Yahoo’s grid sometime….. there is an alpha available.
I’m currently creating my blog and I use the free magazine theme “Openbook“.
I must say i’m in love with it, it’s a really sophisticated theme but you don’t even have to manually edit theme files.
I really like this one by Andreas Viklund: http://themes.wordpress.net/columns/3-columns/704/wp-andreas01-12/
It is the one I am using right now.
To everyone mentioning revolution, i really wish I could use it, it looks excellent, and if I had the money I would definitely purchase it, but I cannot justify spending $80 on a theme for a site that generates no income.
I like all of the Revolution themes. I currently run Revolution Magazine in blog form on one site, and have plans for future site using the same theme in its magazine form. They are nice clean themes that are fairly easy to work with. They are not free, but worth the cost I think.
What I would really like though is a theme with a small right sidebar (say 120 size) and a larger left side that can accommodate 300×300 ads. I find that the left bar monetizes best for Google ads, while I have a need to run other ads in the 250 or 300 size in a top space as well.
Oh – this is another one I think is pretty brilliant.
WP-Magazine Theme: http://www.wp-magazine.com/
Lots of customizations possible with this one.
I love the ideal website:
http://informationarchitects.jp/the-ideal-website/
I found this great template while browsing this thread on smashingmagazine:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/05/29/applying-divine-proportion-to-web-design/
Basically its a theme that uses the divine ratio, or golden mean, i.e. sacred geometry, etc, etc.
Nice theme to start from.
:)
I should also mention this post that Dane Morgan mentioned in a tweet earlier today for those looking for a magazine look who don’t have design skills or cash available.
http://www.wpzoom.com/wordpress-themes-sets/45-free-premium-wordpress-themes-with-magazine-or-grid-layouts/
I really like Freshy2. Along with the customize plugin makes for a solid theme that’s really … well, customizable. The menu bar makes it good for brochure/CMS sites, in my opinion.
I’d like to see this survey done by Joe “non-Internet fanatic” Public. I’m willing to bet that there’s a big difference between what we like and what “he” likes.
My favorites:
IndoMagz Theme – you can see it on my blog: http://www.magicsenses.com/blog
Soveryn – you can also see it in action at: http://www.1HappyCorner.com
Both free.
I like my own because I have this compulsive desire to control every detail in my site. I think wordpress templates are so easy to edit as long as you are a CSS guru.
I’ve been using K2 for a while now. http://www.getk2.com/
I’ve been thinking about switching to WP Remix. Has anyone been using that theme? http://www.wpremix.com/
I love FreshPresh: http://freshpressthemes.com/blog/freshpress-theme/
It’s based on the WP 2.5 admin interface ;)
The theme on my blog is (imo) the nicest free template on the web. Click my name to see it – its from Daily Blog Tips.
Link to download is in the footer…sorry to take you on a treasure hunt. =)
I’m currently using a free theme created by Chris Pirillo
My site : http://photograview.com
Download Link to Theme: http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/06/07/download-my-free-premium-wordpress-theme/
I’m using the Pro Sense Grey theme, albeit a slightly modified version.
Currently dabbling in creating my own theme, may take some time before it’s finished though!
I use K2 – I love that I can make my site look exactly how I want, even with fairly rudimentary coding skills.
For theme specific. I recommend Revolution Themes. Im using the sports themes. I know little about coding and I was able to modify their theme within hours and have a nice workable theme.
My site: http://thesportsaffiliate.com
Revolution Themes:
https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=68189&c=ib&aff=27041&ev=8697a002bc
I think any theme by Brian Gardner or Chris Pearson are excellent for,
simplicity
clean code
easily customised
SEO friendly
The free ones might have fewer features than the premium ones (I haven’t really investigated the differences), but there’s some good tutes around on customising and on building magazine layouts etc.
Darren Hoyt’s posts about making a magazine theme are especially good, and his Mimbo theme is good too.
The Morning After free WP Magazine Style Theme
URL: http://code.google.com/p/the-morning-after/
Great theme… I hacked the hell out of it for DormBuilder.com!
Currently my favourite design is the one I just developed using Kubrick. It looks like an old dos screen – green on black. Still got some tweaking to do. http://blog.whirledpeas.com.au
There are so many themes available these days, that it’s actually impossible to choose one, especially free ones. I think that spending a little money on a theme is a good idea, it helps avoid the continual duplication of themes!
Here’s a lovely collection of premium news themes: http://www.imod.co.za/adii.php
There are so many nice premium WordPress themes out there, but one of the nicest magazine style themes that I’ve seen (which includes phenomenal customer service and support is The WordPress Dream Theme!
I tweaked Silouhette by Brian Gardner for my most recent project. I am pretty happy with it, although Brian didn’t respond to an email question even though he said in the readme file that he would support the theme via the email address I contacted. FYI for anyone who wants to use that theme, if you put a widget in the right column, it screws up the search box.
I like the look of Massive News myself
Doh. Can’t spell. The theme is called Silhouette.
very valuable info to me.Thanks..
I can give a plus one on the Revolution Themes. I own the developer pack and recently( today) put the City Theme on a blog I’m building up at http://www.mytowntalks.com
Its not totally where I want it yet and I need some better images, but its coming along. At first I was intimidated by editing all the elements, but after I read a little and got into it, then it was not difficult at all. Over all these themes give you a lot of flexibility to change the way your posts are displayed.
We’re using the MasivePress theme by wpelements at our newly launched site Cool Raker. One of the best themes I’ve worked with for sure.
There are so many high quality free and paid WordPress themes around these days it can be difficult to decide on just one.
Here is a great gallery of the Best Premium WordPress Themes:
http://www.premiumwp.com/archive/2008/06/22/best-premium-wordpress-themes-collection/
I just changed my theme to another free theme called LightBreaker. I find it the best theme among my other themes so far.
I like the grayish-black look and it just looks sleek and elegant without being too colourful or complex.
Need some modifications though! There are really no themes out there that work for you out of the box. You still need to modify it to your liking and style!
I am currently using the wordpress lightbreaker theme as it is great for 125×125 ads and is the right format for me. I use it with the max blog banner rotator plugin and the max blog stripe advertising plugin.
I use an adapted version of Dosh Dosh’s prosense:
http://www.funkybrownchick.com
It’s great. :)
Mostly the better wp themes are custom made, but if I have to pick a premium theme, then it will be the Revolution Magazine Theme.
I still recommend custom work…
The one im using now for my blog @ http://www.StocksHaven.com – I’m using Zeke 1.0+Widgets. Great theme, easy to understand / update….highly recommend it!
Mine’s Arthemia theme by http://www.michaeljubel.com it’s a magazine theme, easy to tweak with features you’d get from a premium theme and best of all its free.