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83 Beautiful Wordpress Themes You (Probably) Haven’t Seen

smashingmagazine.com — Find 83 free Wordpress Themes you probably haven ’t seen yet. All themes offer quality, elegance and a user-friendly interface.

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  • frebro, on 10/12/2007, -7/+19Perfect! I was just about to set up a new blog. This will be a fine resource.
  • joenewbreed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9This has been on here before... Still dugg it, though, because it's a good find.
  • halvertos, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2muchos gracias
  • TechLaw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hey, the theme I use is on there. I am unique. It looks cool, I just cannot concoct a banner to go with it. Anyone with suggestions on how to integrate a more personal graphic onto the Contaminated theme, input would be great.
    • defrex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2After a quick glance, I would go with changing the header.gif file, and adding your graphic there (I'm assuming by "banner" you mean something at the top of the page). Add #main{ top-margin: extra size your graphic adds to header.gif}.

      That should do the trick fairly simply. Although, custom is always better. I recommend getting to know the CSS structure of the theme. If it's your page, you really should understand it, even if you don't want to write the whole thing yourself. Once you understand the CSS: adding, removing, and altering becomes something you can do before breakfast.
  • tdskate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3down again !
    they need new hosting servers, like now, because they get the diggfrontpage every day...
  • jdamron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6http://duggmirror.com/design/83_Beautiful_Wordpress_Themes_You_Probably_Haven_t_Seen/
  • EvolvedAnt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+62Internal Server Error theme?

    I'm pretty sure that theme is way overused at wordpress.
    • nicepants, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I guess that's why we haven't seen them.
    • JeremyL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1There are some gems on that list I had never seen before. Nice, Dugg.
  • ajck, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5...and won't see, given how often WordPress crashes under the slightest load.
  • Fly1m1, on 10/12/2007, -20/+1Mine is better than all of them...http://sonexbuilding.com
  • echimu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13There are good 80 wp themes here as well - http://www.drweb.de/weblog/weblog/?p=767 they are same
  • kevin45, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23I want the MySql Cant Establish Connection theme.
    • dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Hmm, a theme that disguises the content as various error messages.. Totally pointless, but it'd be interesting to see if anyone actual bothered to read it (Or looked close enough to see that there really was content)..
      - Ben
    • leachim_6, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Lol ... totally ... A lot of people are using that theme ... but I can't find a download for it ... anyone got a link ?
  • landmonster, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6***** off. All these are available on the Wordpress site.
  • sciencebase, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2If you pick a good-looking theme chances are a few dozen fellow bloggers will do the same. Much better is to mod, mod, mod a standard theme, or do as I did and inadvertently miss out the background images to end up with something a bit more minimalist (http://www.sciencebase.com) and then add your own tweaks and graphics
  • cfizzo, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1wordpress sucks
  • bigpappasmurf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1These would be nice if the site was up.
  • Amart, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1thanks, good find.
  • k8cpa, on 10/12/2007, -18/+1Uhmmmm... Excuse me? I own a Wordpress.com blog and Yes, I like it very much. I think Wordpress kicks blogger.com's BUTT anyday of the week, and for a FREE blog, it's great. I'm sure there's better PAY blogs out there, and believe me, if I could afford to pay for a piece of blog software and for hosting, I would. But because I'm one of the MANY unemployed people in america. I take all the freebies I can get. When you got like $20.00 in your personal checking account, you take any freebie you can get, trust me.

    Wordpress rules and the rest drool.... end of story...

    Chuck
    Owner @ http://hardline.wordpress.com/

    • kevin45, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13WOW your blog looks terrible. You need a theme.
    • Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I'm wondering if maybe you shouldn't be out looking for a job rather than spending more time on Digg?
  • civperc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Good post, but unfortunately many of those themes suffer from lack of readability and accessibility. There are however, some quality ones included in that list.
  • whi73rav3n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://howto.helpero.com/howto/Update-WordPress_20.html
  • Boulevard, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1I like one of the last ones, the SEO wordpress theme. Nothing like quality:

    WordPress database error: [Can't open file: 'wp_comments.MYI' (errno: 144)]
    DESC wp_comments

    Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/pilkste/public_html/wp-content/plugins/briansthreadedcomments.php on line 95

    WordPress database error: [Can't open file: 'wp_comments.MYI' (errno: 144)]
    ALTER TABLE wp_comments ADD COLUMN comment_reply_ID INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0;

    WordPress database error: [Can't open file: 'wp_comments.MYI' (errno: 144)]
    DESC wp_comments

    Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/pilkste/public_html/wp-content/plugins/briansthreadedcomments.php on line 104
  • Spellczech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Meh. Anyone thats been to the WordPress themes page(s) will have seen most of these.
  • hansonc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Here's my question about Wordpress themes. Why does (almost) everyone make their themes with static widths? What's wrong with a theme that can be used on any size screen without pointless wastes of space on either side? The worst part is they're almost always something dumb like 400px wide so no matter what your resolution is, you're still stuck with wasted space.
    • brocej, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7They are a set width because it is easier for the eye to read text in narrow columns. Wordpress is all about content, therefore it makes sense to optimise the reading experience for the user.

      http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/nov02.asp
      http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/62/whitespace.htm
      http://www.deyalexander.com.au/resources/uxd/readability.html
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5The reason is that it's easiest to read no more than about 25 words per line. Any more and it takes too long to figure out which is the next line down, and you start forgetting what you just read. It looks a little weird but it's like rule #1 of desktop publishing.
    • theHM, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I with you on that, hansoc. I prefer the layout of The Best Page In The Universe (maddox.xmission.com) to any of those pictured in the link.

      It's easiest to read big clear text. If you want 25 words per line, fine; just make them fill the width of the screen.
    • brocej, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2theHM - Do I detect a hint of sarcasm? Or where you serious? It's difficult to tell these days.
    • tenken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It allows for controlled formatting. If you give a theme like Kubrick scalable width and full screen your browser at 1280 it's going to look fugly ;)
    • demianxyz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@brocej

      Thanks for the links, it was interesting to read.
    • Tippis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@ theHM
      "It's easiest to read big clear text. If you want 25 words per line, fine; just make them fill the width of the screen."

      Actually, not entirely true. Or, rather, not close to being "the full story."
      If you make text so large as to fill the width of the screen, changes are you are either usng a very tiny monitor, or your font size is (way) too large.

      In print, you achieve the best readabilit at arount 10pt -- on a screen, it's slightly larger, but not by much. The trick is to make sure you have the correct DPI setting for your monitor so that those 10pt are translated into the right amount of pixels.

      Either way, your suggestion -- which seems to boil down to "increase the font size until you fill the screen" will most likely render the text completely illegible. Just like the old 25-words-per-line rule is meant to make it easier for your eyes to find the next line and find a good read/relax pace, the 10pt-font size gives your brain optimal text chunks to handle.

      If we consumed text by reading them character by character, or even word by word, in a continuous scan from left to right, increasing the font size wouldn't matter (much). However, we don't. We read in discrete steps. We read clause constructions; we read common phrases; we read large chunks of meaning-bearing text at a time. As such, if you make the font size too large, you can't properly focus on a whole chunk at a time, and you'll experience a *massive* drop in reading speed because you suddenly have to split up the information into so small bits that each bit is no longer coherent.

      Basically, if you absolutely want to fill the width of the screen, the answer is *not* to increase the size of the text -- if you feel it's a waste of screen real-estate, you should put your text into columns, but that's about it.
      Also, from a user-POV, might I suggest not running your browser full-screen? That way, you get the best of both words: your text content can retain optimal size and width, and you can choose what to do with the rest of your desktop space.

      @ hansonc
      "... without pointless wastes of space on either side?"
      Actually, the "wastes of space" as you call them are *incredibly* important to create a good reading environment. Proper white-space handling and a good balance between filled and empty space makes a huge difference in how your eye is guided along the right path needed to get the most out of the text with minimum effort. We may have gotten *used to* the penny-pinching "better print to the very edges of the book" kind of philosophy that came out of the paperback industry, but that doesn't mean it's good practice.
    • molochi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes, I used to use a "tiny" 21inch CRT that I ran at 1920x1440. While this was great for images, fixed font websites were unreadable due to it's incredibly small size. I'm so glad that I put a 32inch lcd on my desk. I can read these wonderful, worthwhile , fixed font sites now.

      /sarcasm
  • goat2, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1who the ***** blogs
  • TheMattrix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+183 Beautiful Wordpress Themes?

    More like 500 Internal Server Error.
  • ExSlashdotter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The big worry with having a diary was the someone might find it and read it.

    The big worry with a blog is that someone won't.
  • Therac25, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Are there any sites with decent themes for the new Blogger template system (not Classic)?

    All the sites I've seen with templates are pure crap.

    Okay, maybe not pure crap. There might be some vomit diluting it.
  • thinkycap, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you pay for the custom CSS upgrade for a wordpress.com account, can you use any of these?

    If so, how?
  • frostyrellik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I think I've seen that one before. Nice, you get dugg and your stupid blog is screwed up. I've been there.
  • superpotential, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1internal server error

    hah, shows you how ***** wordpress is. why do people need a freaking blog managing system overloaded with mysql?
  • agbullet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wordpress CLI theme FTW!

    http://themes.wordpress.net/index.php?s=cli

    (first one on the page. copy and paste if the link doesn't work for some reason.)
  • Vouksh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1WHY CAN'T THESE BE MADE FOR SERENDIPITY?!

    How come no one uses s9y anymore. It can handle a load without a problem, as it's very lean. It's also very easily expanded upon via SPARTACUS (it's an acronym, that's why it's caps). If you want a plugin or theme, you just go to the themes or plugins page, click add new plugin, and it lists the plugins on the server. Want one? Click the button beside it, and it's downloaded and installed. You can then configure it to your liking.

    http://www.s9y.org
    My (useless) blog running it: http://www.vouksh.com

    Digg me down if you want, but at least give serendipity a try.
  • boris4ka, on 10/16/2007, -3/+1I still prefer the theme I designed and wrote for my site: http://www.boris4ka.com
  • 3rendan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0man they are sweet but i hate having to use them, i feel so blah.
  • Brajeshwar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cool, I got both my designs in there - KISS and Brajeshwar v7.0!
  • Rageous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice nod to Hemingway, easily one of the most versatile and well-coded themes on the list. My own site uses a heavily-modified variant of Light, as well.
  • aweblogs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Blix will always be my all time fav.


    http://www.wpthemesplugin.com
  • dontsaymyname, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Are there any comparable JAVA equivalents to Wordpress?
  • deanjrobinson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very nice to be at the top of the list, but all the extra traffic has killed my host :(

    Direct link to the download of my theme Redoable
    http://www.deanjrobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/Redoable1.1.zip
  • Downtime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Awesome link!!
  • tenchiws, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Correction: 84 themes are listed.
  • Pizzadude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I appreciate the work this man does.
  • myapplestuff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Go 65 (Qwilm) - for obvious reasons :-)
  • bigjac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Great! These templates really inspired me!
  • emkeane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0inspiring collection
  • Chris24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Since Themes.wordpress.net is currently "Down" or taking too long to respond, This will be good to find some nice themes!!!
  • crystalcha28, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Awesome templates... managed to use a couple as well for my own blogs...
  • tulip4heaven, on 10/25/2007, -0/+0beautiful collection of themes , I would like to put all themes on my site , http://www.webmasterstuff.info , let me know if you can approve my request

    Thanks
    Tulip
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