1. StudioPress. StudioPress uses a theme called Genesis to power almost all of their other themes. To use most of their themes, you have to install Genesis first (but not activate it), and then install the theme you want to use (called a child theme). The child theme gets its inner workings from Genesis, but gets its unique design from its own theme files. Kind of like how a child gets its DNA from its parents, but that DNA works itself out a little different from child to child in a family. The Genesis theme itself is pretty powerful and I’ve used it on several sites. The best thing about StudioPress themes is their support. It is A++++. I have NEVER seen a product with such great support. In fact, when possible anymore, I start with a StudioPress theme and make modifications to it.

2. ThemeForest. Themeforest is a collection of themes for various platforms, not just WordPress themes… but you can search just for WordPress themes. ThemeForest is a theme marketplace, meaning many different theme authors sell their themes there. This is nice because it offers a great variety of themes. The theme this site currently uses is called Magzimus, and I got it at Themeforest. I suggest reading through a theme’s Comments before you purchase a theme through ThemeForest, and look to see how the theme author responds to questions and requests for assistance. There are some truly creative themes at ThemeForest that make great use of what WordPress is capable of, and you just won’t find those themes anywhere else.

What theme are you using for your site now? What do you like about it? Not like? Can we take a peek? Do you need a recommendation for a theme to use for a particular project – tell us about in the comments.

If you WOULD like to look at some PREMIUM themes (that you have to purchase), here are a few publishers for which I am an affiliate (which means that I would USE these themes myself, and in the case of Press75, I have used their themes on several sites!)

Widgets: Widgets are drag and drop boxes you can add to your sidebars, and sometimes your footer (depending on your theme). Popular widgets include a listing of your pages, categories, recent posts or comments, monthly archives of your posts, links, a search field, and your tags. To put a widget on your sidebar, click on Widgets, then drag the one you want to the “Sidebar” list on the right side of your screen. Then, click on title of the widget on the sidebar to adjust any particular settings for that widget. For example, the “Categories” widget asks if you want to show the categories as a list, or as a dropdown menu; if you want to show post counts (the number of posts attributed to each category), and if you want to show the hierarchy of categories (if you have sub-categories, this will show them, too). To remove a widget, simply drag it back, or click remove.

Editor: This allows you to edit the CODE behind your themes. For the purpose of this ebook, I’m simply going to say, don’t change anything here.

Add New Themes: Like I said, there are thousands of themes to choose from. You can find and activate new FREE themes here. All of the themes listed in the WordPress directoy have been approved by WordPress for use – they don’t have tricks up their geek sleeves and are safe to use.

1. Search: allows you to search the WordPress theme directory by colors, columns, width, features, and subject. You can also specify particular terms you’d like to search for, such as pink, feminine, or cancer. There may already be a great theme for a breast cancer site, and you can search for it here.
2. Upload: When you’re getting started, using the free theme directory is the way to go. However, not EVERY theme that exists is listed in this directory. Some themes, like the ones you pay for, won’t be. If you have purchased one of those, then you’ll have a file you’ve downloaded from the site you purchased it from that you’ll need to install on your site. You can do that by clicking the “Upload” link, finding the file on your computer and then clicking Install.
3. Featured: This will show you the themes that WordPress is fond of lately. In many ways, these are the best of the best FREE themes.
4. Newest: Um, shows the newest themes approved by WordPress
5. Recently Updated: See – I told you this was pretty simple. Displays the most recently updated themes approved by WordPress.

Once you have found a theme you like, you will see the links to “Install” or “Preview” it under the theme title. Previewing it will show you what the theme looks like with your existing pages/posts and widgets. Installing it will pop up a small window that shows a button to “install now.” Click that and then you will see a screen that gives you the options to again Preview, Activate or Return to Theme Installer. If you would like to make this theme THE theme for your site, choose Activate.

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Remember, you can look at all of the themes installed on your site by choosing the Appearance>Themes tab.