Choosing and setting up the right creative WordPress theme
It’s pretty easy to say that creative WordPress themes can really make your site stand out, but what does “creative” stand for when it comes to themes? How do you choose one? And how do you use it? Let’s take a closer look.
The collection
Like we said, “Creative” is a pretty broad category. There are plenty of creative types on the web, from writers and artists to ad agencies, photographers, architects and more. Plus, who’s to say that a business not traditionally seen as “creative” wouldn’t want to choose one of these themes? Plenty of the assets available have different versions for different industries, so you could use the same template for a lawyer’s website or a construction company, and many others. In other words, you can use these themes to showcase your personal creativity or simply to present your business in a creative way.
With that in mind, here are some of the most popular types of creative WordPress themes in our collection:
- Portfolio themes. Probably the most common use of a creative theme is to show off your portfolio. This can be useful for all kinds of freelancers, agencies, businesses and individuals—the themes are designed to present your work as a designer, architect and more in the best possible light. Among these, one-page templates are some of the most popular.
- Photography themes. Whether photography is your profession or your hobby, you’ll want to present your images to the world in a way that makes them look great and makes it easy for visitors to navigate them. These themes are designed to do just that. The images take center stage, with plenty of options for things like galleries, sliders and full-screen views to help people browse your work.
- Art themes. Artists need to show their work in a similar way to photographers, and these themes offer many of the same options. They’re designed specifically for artists, though—artists of all kinds, including tattoo experts, for example.
- Experimental themes. These themes offer innovative and offbeat design features to make your website really catch people’s eye. But don’t worry: while the designs are experimental, the functionality is tried and tested, so these themes will work perfectly and reliably across a range of different devices.
How to use your theme and get started
So once you’ve given our collection a good browse and have eventually found the theme that’s perfect for your project—what are the next steps and how do you approach them?
- First you have to choose a web host, if you don’t have one already. Pick a web hosting provider, buy the actual “space” that will host the site, choose a domain name.
- Then you’ll need to get WordPress installed. The world’s most famous content management system is pretty easy to install, and its interface is quite user-friendly, so even if you’re just getting started you should be able to get your head around it fairly quickly (granted, you’ll still need some basic coding knowledge).
- Next, you can install your theme. Remember: our authors include detailed documentation and instruction to help you make the most out of what you’ve purchased, so make sure you read through those documents before you get started.
- If you prefer saving time and not having to figure the above steps out, you can consider Envato Hosted as an alternative. It’s a monthly subscription that includes installation and setup for the theme you’ve chosen, as well as hosting and ongoing support and monitoring. Definitely a time saver.
- Then it’s a case of adding your own images and text and designing the site just the way you want it. The themes are set up to make this process easy, with great documentation and built-in options. Authors are committed to making it simple for you to choose different options without needing any coding experience.
- Still, if you’re having trouble, you can get help from one of the WordPress experts on Envato Studio. Hiring a freelancer will save you plenty of time, and it’s the perfect solution if you don’t have the skills to do all of the above by yourself.