It has been awhile since I’ve created one of our popular WordPress theme galleries, so I decided it was time to build a new one. In the past I’ve always taken the approach of trying to remove any personal bias and just display the WordPress themes and demo/download information in a manageable way so that the reader can choose their favorite themes that they’d like to use.

This time I decided to comb through the internet and pick out my personal favorite 50 free WordPress themes. Right now, they are broken down into the following categories: 2-Column Themes, 3-Column Themes, 4-Column Themes, and Magazine Themes. I’m pretty sure not everyone will agree with my choices, so if I missed one of your favorites, feel free to add a link to the theme in the comments below.

Best 2-Column Free WordPress Themes

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

Lemon Twist Theme

Source/Demo | Download

WP Freemium Theme

Source | Download

SimpleWP Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Evolution Theme

Source | Download | Demos: Blue, Green, Red

GlossyBlue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

StudioPress Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Several3 Theme

Source | Download | Demo [Continue Reading...]

About a month ago, I sent a call out to the WordPress community requesting that more themes be released that by default include slots for 125×125 banners. They are all the rage, yet it seems that few designers took the time to optimize their themes for these banners. Common sense says that if there is very little supply but a lot of demand, the people that fill the demand will find success.

In looking at the recent trends with newly released themes over this past month, it seems that bloggers have really responded and there is now a wide variety of WordPress themes available for download. I decided there are finally enough of them now that I can throw together a gallery of WordPress themes that allow for 125×125 banners. Enjoy!

2-Column Themes

Slick Blue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

WP Freemium Theme

Source | Download

Dark Zen Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Maggo Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Green Tech Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Blue Sensation Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3-Column Themes

iPhOne Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Padangan Theme

Source | Download | Demo

SimpleWP Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Black and White Theme

Source | Download | Demo

WP-Polaroid Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Firebug Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Simple Red Theme

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

True Blue Theme

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

Blue Block Theme

Source | Download | Demo

WP Premiere Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Magazine-Style Themes

Structure Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Forte Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Mag on Wood Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Know of one we missed? Contact us or let us know in the comments below!

I’ve been talking a bit about the need for free theme designers to spend some time building more advertising spots into their WordPress themes.  They are really in demand right now and there is currently a lack of themes that provide them out of the box.

Recently Daniel of Daily Blog Tips released the GreenTech WordPress theme, which is available for free to any interested WordPress users.   The theme was created by a friend of mine, Mayank Gupta of ReviewSaurus, as a way to showcase his design talents.

First, here is a quick look at the theme:

I think this theme is going to become extremely popular over the coming months in the same way that the BloggingPro theme did for much of last year.  Here are the features that Daniel lists:

• Advertising Ready: The theme comes with six 125×125 banner spots on the sidebar. You will just need to upload the banners to the theme “Images” folder and update the ads.php file.
• Easy Feedburner Integration: The “Theme Options” section inside the WordPress control panel enables the blogger to insert his Feedburner URL, which will be used all over the theme.
• Widgets Ready: The theme supports widgets, so just drop the ones you use.
• About the Author Section: The theme comes with a sidebar section dedicated to the author. You can upload your picture and a small description using the author.php page.
• Comments Styling: Author comments have a different style.
• Read More Tag Styling: The “Read More” tag is already styled and integrated into the design. Useful for bloggers that use post excerpts.
• Search Engine Optimization: The meta and title tags are already optimized for search engines.

If you are interested, you can view a live demo of the theme or download the theme.

One of Smashing Magazine’s first and most well received posts was a sort of WordPress theme gallery, similar to the galleries I manage and update here at Hack WordPress.  Now it looks like they’ve gone back to their roots with another post dedicated to WordPress themes.

This post is titled 100 Excellent Free WordPress themes, and it doesn’t disappoint!  There are a number of really incredible themes here, including a few that I hadn’t run across yet.  This weekend I plan to go through their post and update the appropriate galleries here on this site.  In the meantime, I recommend you click over and check it out!

Now that 2008 is here, why not look back at 2007?  Some blogs have been looking back over 2007, and I’ve been closely tracking some of the WordPress reviews for 2007.    One post that caught my eye was published over at WP Themes Plugin, where they have picked there Top 20 WordPress Themes of 2007.

In looking over the post, it is a pretty good collection of themes, most of which (if not all) are completely free to WordPress users.  If you are looking for a WordPress theme for your new blog, I recommend you check it out.   If you don’t find what you are looking for there, you may also want to dig through my various WordPress Theme Galleries to find the right theme for your needs.   I haven’t counted, but I believe there is well over 100 free and premium themes included in the galleries, which are broken down into categories for easy browsing and include screen shots and links to each theme.

I hope everyone has a happy 2008!

While most full time bloggers seem to use and prefer 2-column WordPress themes, there is no doubt that 3-column themes are definitely more popular among the WordPress blogger masses. This can be attributed to many things, but the most appealing thing seems to be the ability to place more sidebar stuff above the fold on your blog. This can help you better monetize your blog by allowing more room for advertisements, subscription buttons, and other important sidebar content that needs to be seen by your readers.

This post is designed to be a spot to collect screen shots and download information about my favorite 3-column WordPress themes that have been made available to the WordPress community. I decided to avoid displaying any themes that cost money, and I’ve tried to include additional information about the theme then possible, including if it is widget ready or SEO friendly, etc.:

3-Column Themes (2 Sidebar Left)

Facebooked Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3-Column Themes (2 Sidebar Right)

iPhOne Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Simpleton Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Padangan Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Free Revolution theme

Source | Download | Demo

Black and White Theme (SEO Friendly, Optimized for AdSense)

Source | Download | Demo

Firebug Theme

Source | Download | Demo

ProSense Theme (SEO Friendly, Optimized for AdSense)

Source | Download (Orange, Blue, and Gray) | Demo

BloggingPro Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Download w/Widgets | Demo

Blue Stripes Ajax Theme (SEO Friendly, AdSense Ready)

Source | Download | Demo

Gossip City Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Xplosive Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Xplosive Reloaded

Source | Download | Demo

Blog oh Blog Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Fresh Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Download w/widgets | Demo

Blue Dream Theme

Source/Demo | Download

Dark Zen Theme

Source | Download | Demo

ElegantBlue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Deep Blue Theme

Source | Download (Right Sidebar) | Download (Left Sidebar) | Download (125×125 Ad Blocks) | Demo

WP-Polaroid Theme

Source | Download | Demo

BizFresh Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Ghacks Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Daily Blog Tips Theme

Source | Download (Green, Blue, Black, and Orange) | Demo (Green, Blue, Black, and Orange)

Blue Green Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Pride Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Crunch Themes

Source | Download (Purple, Blue, Green, and Black) | Demo (Purple, Blue, Green, and Black)

Illacrimo Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | (No Demo Available)

Tomodachi Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Simple Red Theme (Supports 125×125 banners)

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

True Blue Theme (Supports 125×125 banners)

Source | Download (Requires free registration) | Demo

Langit Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Resurrection Theme

Source/Demo | Download

Nonzero Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Cleaker 2.1 Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Demo

TyreMonkey Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Demo

WP Premiere Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Fresco Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Saur Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3-Column Themes (1 Sidebar Left and 1 Sidebar Right)

Maggo Theme

Source | Download | Demo

YGo Sea Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Silveray Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Rhea Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Velocity Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Tigopedia Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3cWPTP Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Demo (Click 3cWPTP in drop-down box)

Blue Zinfandel Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Acid Green Pro Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Alike Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Simplified Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Greed Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Feel your 3-column theme belongs on this list? Feel free to comment below with a link and I’ll check it out!