Best WordPress Themes

WordPress themes and templates both indicate how your website should look. However, most people have a misconception that these two are the same, but they are not, and each has a different function.A WordPress theme is a collection of templates and stylesheets that indicate the design of your website. These include the website's background, color scheme, header and footer look, sidebar layout, typography, etc. People often think that they are choosing a template when they are referring to their website's design, but this is a misnomer since it is the website's "theme" that states how the site should look.A WordPress template, on the other hand, indicates how to display the website's contents. They refer to the page layouts provided by the themes, and they do not affect the structure of the whole site. A WordPress theme may contain both specifically designed and standard templates.

No, you don't need to know anything about codes to use WordPress themes. WordPress themes are readily available, and you can install these quickly with just a few clicks. Although, you'll be able to do more to your website if you have sufficient coding knowledge.

If you want to modify your theme's codes, you need to learn HTML, CSS, PHP, and JS to manipulate a WordPress theme. HTML or hypertext markup language provides the backbone of your theme. CSS or cascading style sheets indicate the design of your WordPress theme. JS or JavaScript and PHP or hypertext preprocessor are responsible for the advanced features of your WordPress website.

The support services of your theme provider depend on the service plan inclusions of your WordPress themes. Some will only provide limited support services, while others give lifetime support services.

Theme development takes up time and effort. It has to fit the coding standards of the WordPress system and has to be regularly updated so they can always be compatible with it. Developing and maintaining a theme is challenging, so most WordPress themes are expensive, especially custom ones. Take note, however, that you will not be regularly changing your theme, especially when you own a business website and you're establishing a brand on the internet. You will want to stick to a single WordPress theme for a very long time for people to know your website's identity. Therefore, premium and Custom WordPress themes are expensive one-time purchases.

For instances where you want to modify your theme, WordPress can allow you to create a child theme. A child theme is a theme that has been "born" out of an existing parent theme. They inherit the parent's functionality, as well as its structure. The creation of a child theme is one of the main features of WordPress that is liked by many. With child themes, you no longer need to create a theme from scratch. Also, it allows modifications to the parent theme without touching any of its framework, which keeps it intact throughout the process. So if you encounter any errors, you can always go back to the parent theme to restore your code. 

Purpose of your websiteYou should choose a WordPress theme that matches your website's purpose. Your website's structure, as well as its functions, will mostly depend on its use. For example, a blog would need a theme that sensibly features both photos and text. A photographer's portfolio website, on the other hand, will need a theme that showcases pictures, so they must look for the best photography WordPress theme. If you're creating an organizational website, such as a religious group, consider choosing the best Church WordPress theme, which matches your site's purpose. If you’re starting a business, but you can’t invest that much on a premium theme yet, you can also consider getting the best free business WordPress theme first.Only choose the theme with the necessary featuresAs much as possible, a theme should include only the necessary features your website will need to keep it running. Adding more features can significantly affect your site's performance, which in turn hampers your viewer's satisfaction. Although adding more features can be tempting to increase interaction opportunities with your viewer, it is still preferred to keep a simple and polished theme for your website. Font used in the theme should be readable Choose a theme with font styles that are very easy to read. Fancy fonts may look beautiful and creative, but you should only use these for the headings and not for body texts. If your website's visitors find it difficult to read the contents, then the likelihood of them leaving and abandoning the site is higher than staying.Feedback and reviews Before choosing, you should also check for the reviews of the theme and its developer, so you can get some insights and detailed descriptions that you can't see in the theme's previews. Also, this will enlighten you regarding the support performance of the developer, whether they are responsive to support needs or not.

You can always go back to see the popular WordPress themes every year. Some designs are timeless, so you don’t always have to stick to the current trends in WordPress themes. Some of the best WordPress themes in 2016 are still appealing, so you can install these for your websites. You can also go for the best WordPress themes in 2017 or even last 2018. No matter what year the WordPress theme was published, you can make use of it for as long it serves its purpose. 

If you're only starting a blog, you should stick to free WordPress themes first. Most of the best free WordPress themes for blogs today are enough to keep your website running. But if you wish to get a premium WordPress theme, and you have the means to do so, you may do that as well.

WordPress, itself, is a secure website. But since it powers thousands of websites on the internet, some of these websites do not follow the security protocol of the system, which opens vulnerabilities to the WordPress system. Below are some of the security issues that can happen if your WordPress theme is not secured.Brute Force AttacksBrute force attacks refer to the act of multiple login attempts through trial and error methods until they can log in an account successfully. File Inclusion ExploitsFile inclusion happens when an attacker gains remote access to the website. This exploit is one of the most common forms of vulnerabilities on WordPress. File inclusions can let attackers access wp-config.php, one of the core files of a WordPress website. SQL Injections SQL injections occur when an attacker gains access to a website’s database. This vulnerability allows the attacker to insert new data on the database, as well as malicious links.Cross-Site ScriptingCross-site scripting commonly occurs on WordPress plugins wherein the attacker provides links to the user with insecure javascript pages. Upon loading, these links may provide a form where users can give their data, which in turn will be stolen by the attacker.MalwareMalicious software, also known as malware, is a code that is used by an attacker to gain unauthorized access to obtain sensitive data. The typical WordPress malware infections are backdoors, drive-by downloads, pharma hacks, and malicious redirects.