If you are into WordPress, you are likely quite into a WordPress theme. We generally like what we are used to, but what are the definitive themes out there? Who has the most users and/or downloads and who is worth taking note of? We would hate our readers to use the wrong theme from day one and wish they had known months back to rather have chosen something else.
Before we dive in, it’s helpful to note that a WordPress theme is like a “skin” for a website. Much like Mac OS or Windows are almost a veneer between you and your machine, a theme helps you work with WordPress to help you easily make a site. Many features come included that help you to quickly get your site looking chic, and then the devil truly is in the detail as you add customisations, usually involving some basic HTML and CSS. Look out for our next post in the ‘WordPress Series’ on WordPress Plugins, where you can learn how to really bend WordPress to your purposes. Without them, I am not sure how many WordPress users we would have today.
WordPress is massive, and as humans have personalities we likely don’t all want our car ‘in any colour, as long as it’s black’. Themes allow you to customise your site, and the most popular one (according to these guys, and these people, and here too) seems to be Divi – from a little combining of research I did. To get a lifetime subscription to their builder “theme” (a builder does more than that of a theme, as it lets you build on much more easily, or build your website from scratch) you are going to fork out about $249, or just buy it for one year for $89, and then upgrade for the difference – this way you save some cash while you just use the one-year deal for a year. Best advice: wait for Black Friday and get it at (likely) about 30% off; that is what I did.
I was going to advise folk on four other themes to go for. I’ve used LayersWP, and Enfold, and a few others over the years but Divi really has it all in my mind. What is amazingly convincing is how much work their dev team is putting in to consistently improve their theme. To be honest, it’s actually a builder, not a theme (but is still a “theme” of sorts) and if you buy into them now you know that in one, two, three years down the line they will still be offering world-class support and updates.
Lastly, I unashamedly will post an affiliate link here for the Divi Theme Builder as it is just that good! I am totally behind their offering so can fully vouch for them, despite me likely getting some financial kickback if you sign up. Hint: do so on Black Friday, or hold out for similar frequent deals.
Sidebar: For some super interesting stats, read this article here, and be encouraged to Google all your questions ad infinitum for answers – it truly is the way to learn nowadays:
1) work out the best way of asking a question
2) ask it
3) read and read and read. You usually go down rabbit holes and learn so much in the process.
Bonus tip: Often the comments thread has the most invaluable tips possible. It’s actually how I got started on Digital Ocean and Serverpilot – a lethal combination for intermediate WordPress users. Note: Those two links I provided are referral links that allow you to get a hefty discount up front to trial them. I think $50 and $10/20 respectively – it will take a good 2-3 hours to work out how to connect the two but well worth it in my mind. Best WordPress hosting option on the net (for the price you pay) and you or your client will be marvellously happy with the performance gains. Lastly, be sure to enable backups!