Navigating the WordPress Theme Directory

There are roughly 2,900 themes in the WordPress theme directory. This number is well under the number for the number of plugins in that directory. But if you ever tried to search for a theme in there that worked for your website, it can still be overwhelming.

The good news is that there are ways to filter out the bad ones and find themes that are really going to work for your website and really make it pop.

So today let’s go over some of the ways that you can make your next adventure into the theme directory a much more successful one.

Use the filters

The first thing that you should be doing when you’re searching for a theme is to use that filter bar up at the top. Seriously.

With only a couple of clicks, you can start to narrow down your options based upon only the things you want in a theme. If you’re a photographer, look for the themes that have a photo tag. If you want a theme that utilizes featured images, apply that filter. And if you want to make sure your theme is accessible, use that filter. You can apply as many filters as you want to your search.

And that’s going to save you time and your sanity because you’re only looking at themes that have what you want in them.

Again, always use the filters.

Find a design that works for your website type

Next, you obviously want to find a theme design that you like and that works for your website type.

If you’re a photographer or your website is really photo heavy, then you’re going to want a theme that, you know, features those photos in a beautiful way. If you’re more like a news organization, you want something that lists a lot of your articles. And if it’s a portfolio, you’re going to want something that really shows off your latest and greatest work.

And then you of course want to really like the design. The chances are pretty high that you’re going to be using this for at least a year, so pick something that you really like.

Look at the theme author and last updated date

Finally, just like with plugins, look to see who the theme author is and when the theme was last updated.

Again, it isn’t a deal breaker if you don’t really know who the theme author is. Though you can click through on that link to see what they’ve done both in and out of WordPress.

But you really want to watch out for that last updated date. If it’s been a while since it was last updated, it could be a very big problem. Plus, if it hasn’t been updated in over a year at this point, it might not support the new block editor, Gutenberg, and that could be a problem. And that’s really before we get into any potential security risks.

But always be patient and careful when navigating the theme directory. There are some real gems in there, but there’s also the chance you find one that doesn’t really work for you and hurts your website. As long as you’re thoughtful and thorough, you’re going to find what you need.

So do you have any horror stories or success stories with using the WordPress theme directory? If so, be sure to leave them down in comments below to help someone else out. And if you have any questions about the theme directory, also be sure to leave them in comments or you can reach out on social media.

And until next time, happy WordPressing!