Choose a Great WordPress Theme: Presentation for WordPress Memphis

This presentation was for the WordPress Memphis meetup group, which I founded in September 2011. The group is near and dear to my heart, and it’s an honor to be asked to come back and talk about WordPress.

I based this presentation on this post about choosing the best theme; it’s not always an easy task, as there are a zillion themes for free download or purchase.

Here are the links I shared in the presentation.

• Creative Bloq’s post on the best online wireframing services. I recommend wireframing your site — you can do this on paper, in Photoshop, or via one of these services — before jumping into the theme. You’ll have a better idea of whether the theme really fits you content and you’ll be less tempted to try to change your content to fit the theme.
• Some premium theme sources I’ve used and recommend (you may have others — tell me in the comments)

  • Woo Themes

  • StudioPress

  • Elegant Themes

  • Mojo Themes

  • Theme Fusion (Avada)

• Direct link to ThemeForest’s Top Authors page
• Verify your (free) theme at ThemeCheck.org
• Find out what theme your favorite site is using; just enter the URL of any WordPress site: Theme Detector. You can also use use your browser’s view source command; search the page for wp-content to find it faster.
• Remember that the best source of free themes is the WordPress.org Repository. All themes uploaded are checked for adherence to WordPress’ strict standards.