Select WP Theme
It’s time to select a Theme for your new site. There a several thousands out there to choose from, I’m sure. Some of the better ones are paid products but don’t spend lots of money right off. There are hundreds of free offerings that are very high quality themes with lots of options and features.
You had the opportunity to try out a few in the last module. Some of those are no longer available in the WordPress Repository. They have been replaced by newer Themes or are no longer supported. No worries.
Popular choices include:
- the style and elegance of Arjuna and the SEO power of Swift
- I like the options offered by Atahualpa and * WeaverII.
- several offerings from the * Theme Lab (paid products)
- the ever-popular * Socrates theme (paid product)
- * Elegant Themes offers a good price and good range of very popular themes
You may search the WordPress repository from your WordPress Dashboard. Find instructions in the next module, Install WP Theme.
- SECURITY WARNING #1: Be very careful about websites offering ‘free’ themes!
- There are many sites that are known to give away free themes which contain various bits of malware and tracker codes embedded in them.
- Do your due diligence when considering a new, unknown ‘free’ theme.
- SECURITY WARNING #2: Older themes may contain an outdated version of /scripts/timthumb.php which will allow your site to be hacked!
- Any timthumb.php file below version 1.35, but above version 1.09 is considered vulnerable
- The latest version of timthumb.php is always available HERE.
Always give some consideration to your target market. Your Theme should be consistent with the expectations of the likely customers in your niche.
Mobile devices are an ever increasingly more popular way to access the internet and require that you use a ‘responsive’ theme without ‘flash’ for a good user experience.
You may also use Google to search for other paid or free themes available from various sources.
If you were successful in identifying a suitable niche using the guidance given up to now, you will install it in the next module. However, if you are still struggling to find a free Theme, I will explain how to use the WordPress Repository to focus your search.
So, let’s boogie on to see how to install your Theme.
