Finding a new theme for my WordPress blog

Being able to easily apply a new theme that totally changes the look of my blog is one if the things that I love about WordPress.  I was a little nervous about it, but everything went very smoothly.  In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went.

I looked around quite a bit to find the exact features I wanted in the new theme for the site.  In the process, I found some great resources that I thought I’d share.  If you are a blogger or if you are thinking about starting up your own blog, then you will likely find these resources valuable.

1.  Three sites that highlight great themes

Finding the WordPress theme of your dreams can be a daunting task.  There are literally thousands of possibilities out there.  Fortunately, I found a few sites that had done some of the work for me.  They have gone through and identified the best of the best.  There is still a lot to choose from, but at least the number is manageable.  Take a look at these:

Best WordPress Themes – The tag line on this site states, “Sorting Wheat From Chaff Since 2007″.  I’d have to agree.  They have a great collection of links to some of the best themes available.  The themes are categorized so you know from the start whether it is one-column, two-column, three-column, magazine-style, photo gallery, specialized, or premium.  I highly recommend checking it out!

WordPress Premium – Although “premium” is included in this site’s name it includes free themes as well.  A premium WordPress theme is generally one that you have to buy.  Again, this site has a large collection of themes that are categorized nicely.  It also offers some nice thumbnails of the themes to help you zero in on what you are looking for.

16 Free Premium WordPress Themes That Don’t Suck – Finally, if you are looking specifically for a free theme, then you want to check out this list.  This article just goes to show you the versatility and flexibility of WordPress.  Also, it is amazing at what you can get in a theme for absolutely no cost.

2.  How to set up a copy of your blog for testing

Installing a new theme, upgrading to new a new version of WordPress, or just monkeying around in the back-end of your blog site can be a little frightening.  To lower the stress, you may want to set up a testing and development copy of your site.  I found some great instructions on how to do this.

Testing New WordPress Versions – This series of three articles is slanted toward setting up a separate copy of your blog for the purpose of testing a WordPress upgrade prior to doing it on your live site.  However, the instructions apply to other scenarios as well.  This set of articles offered the most detailed information that I could find including screenshots.  If you haven’t done this, then this is a great place to start!

The premium theme I ultimately chose for my blog

After looking at numerous themes, I decided to go with the WP-Vybe 1.0 premium theme offered by Solostream.  If you are interested, I suggest watching the demo video and checking out the WP-Vybe theme in action.  Personally, I love all the options that are built-in and its magazine-style layout.  It was a snap to apply.  I couldn’t be happier!

What do you think of my new site theme?

What other WordPress theme resources have you used?