Premium Wordpress Theme Roundup
While I don’t believe that designers for hire should be using Wordpress templates designed by somebody else for their clients’ projects, I can understand the desire to have a really appealing website for a pet project or family friend who wants a quick blog and low cost.
I’ve round up five websites that offer quality Wordpress themes that focus on aesthetics on their own website, (which isn’t always the case) and in their premium themes.
While DIYTHEMES is not really a premium design theme, it offers you flexibility like no other theme I’ve found in my travels thus far. In the pricing department, it’s available for personal use at $87, and developer option at $167. It adds an amount of versatility that would be great to see in Wordpress natively. DIYTHEMES gives you more control over SEO and publishing controls, allows you to adjust your layout until it’s “pixel perfect”, and lets you create a better overall visual appeal so long as you know what you’re doing. This is a great theme to build on for any designer – just be patient and get through all the reading and screencasts to fully understand its capabilities.
http://diythemes.com/
Elegant Themes offers a great price point of $19.95 per year to access all of the available themes and support. Each theme has a detailed feature list regarding their compatibility between browsers, and Wordpress version. In addition, Nick Roach (owner of ElegantThemes.com) lists a rundown of most other specifics any designer would be looking for in a theme.
http://www.elegantthemes.com/
Graph Paper Press offers a variety of options both in pricing and themes. On offer, Graph Paper Press has freebies, a quarterly subscription for $49, annual subscription for $99 and annual developer option for $299. Depending on what you go with, you get what you pay for, but they also offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied which is great to see for those on the fence about trying a theme out. Their theme selection is nicely rounded focusing on minimalist design for showcasing multimedia.
http://graphpaperpress.com/
WooThemes has an interesting approach to their pricing and membership features. To purchase a single theme outright, you can choose between the standard package for $70 or developer package for $150. However, their membership packages are $125 for the standard plus $15/month, and $200 plus $20/month for the developer option. You do get access to WooThemes entire catalog of themes if you opt for a membership, but depending on your needs, you may find them a little pricey. Theme selection is nice and varied however, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding something you like.
http://www.woothemes.com
WPZOOM has a pretty decent and very simple (hurrah!) price package for their themes with a lower price for a single license, and increased price for their multi-use developer license including the theme’s Photoshop file. The price is completely dependent on the theme you choose, so just be wary while picking themes that not all are priced at $49 for personal use. You get updates and new versions with either package for free, and those of you with PayPal will be happy to know that they take PayPal payments.
What I really like about WPZOOM is that they feature WPZOOM Wordpress themes that have been modified by other designers. While there isn’t a wide selection in either their themes, or designer showcase, the designs are strong and they do offer at least one freebie as of this writing.
http://www.wpzoom.com