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It's one thing to feel overwhelmed with the task of finding and selecting a CMS, but what about finding a unique look to build your site off of? This is where themes and templates come in. Today, I'm going to share with you one of the places I recommend checking out in your search for a template or theme to use as a base to start from.
One of the most popular (and largest) marketplaces for CMS themes and CMS templates is the ever popular <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/themeforest">Themeforest</a>. Themeforest has been around for a number of years and has a very impressive selection of themes and templates for all kinds of systems. For example, at Themeforest you can find:
<ul>
<li>WordPress themes</li>
<li>Joomla Templates</li>
<li>Drupal Themes</li>
<li>Concrete5 Themes</li>
<li>ExpressionEngine Themes</li>
<li>Tumblr Themes</li>
<li>Blogger Themes</li>
<li>Magento Themes</li>
<li>Shopify Themes</li>
<li>OpenCart Themes</li>
<li>osCommerce Themes</li>
<li>PrestaShop Themes</li>
<li>Zen Cart Themes</li>
</ul>
That's just SOME of the types you can find there. I personally have Themeforest bookmarked and check it every few days to see what type of themes and templates are being released (I have a bit of an obsession with themes..)
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/themeforest-620x546_vmyrk3.jpg" alt="themeforest" />
The selection is so large that there are currently over 9,300 different types of themes, templates and even plugins available on their site. There are also a number of Themeforest contributors that have developed their own custom HTML templates and themes, some with their own integrated custom content management systems, complete with administrative interfaces.
It's a great place to start from as well. If you aren't sure what your CMS might be capable of or are curious as to what you could accomplish visually with a specific CMS, you can browse Themeforest's selection to get an idea as to what some people have come up with. Obviously, it's not going to necessarily showcase every possible setup and look but it's a good place to start from for sure.
If you are a theme developer or template developer and want to make some money, you can use Themeforest as well to sell your products to their enormous user-base. I highly recommend taking a look at what they have to offer and seeing if anything fits your needs.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/themeforest">Check out Themeforest</a>.

Where to Find CMS Themes & CMS Templates

mike-johnston

StudioPress, the popular WordPress theme developer, has announced a new theme entitled <a href="http://my.studiopress.com/themes/interior/?_ga=2.126455624.4583036.1624549743-4831094679.1623261405671">Interior Pro</a>. This new theme was designed by Ashley Schweitzer.
This theme offers clean typography and a slick color palette to bring an overall look and feel that is sure to please.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/interior-pro-theme-1024x1024.jpg" alt="interior-pro-theme" />
Features include:
<ul>
<li>A mobile-responsive design that looks amazing wherever it’s viewed</li>
<li>Support, documentation, and the StudioPress community forum</li>
<li>The best rankings possible because of our clean code and mobile-friendly design</li>
<li>Super-fast page load times</li>
<li>One-click theme updates</li>
<li>Airtight security so you can rest easy</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://my.studiopress.com/themes/interior/?_ga=2.126455624.4583036.1624549743-4831094679.1623261405671">Try the demo</a> or check out StudioPress's <a href="https://www.studiopress.com/themes/">other themes</a>.

StudioPress releases Interior Pro Theme for Genesis Framework

When it comes to sharing your images on your website in the form of a web gallery, the CMS options for managing the same are many. Whether you wish to create an online portfolio, or simply want to share some photos, choosing the ideal CMS for your web gallery goes a long way in effectively managing the gallery! In this article, we bring to you some of the best known CMS options for web gallery management.
<h2>Zenfolio</h2>
Zenfolio allows you to create beautiful galleries for your photographs with an easy to use and incredibly powerful platform. Features include a portfolio style home page, customizable slideshows with music, custom page elements, photo blogging, scores of themes, pre-built pages that you can choose from, mobile optimization (for tablets and phones, multiple user accounts and much more. There's even an e-Commerce component should you choose to sell your photos for a fee.
http://youtu.be/FWvI-liiXec
Website: <a href="https://en.zenfolio.com/">Zenfolio</a>
<h2>Wix</h2>
Wix is a website builder but it has some amazing functionality for managing picture galleries as well. From sliders to full galleries for your photos, you are sure to find a way to showcase your pictures. The advantage to using a hosted solution such as the one that Wix offers is the speed at which the site loads. With a hosted solution like Wix, your site will not be bogged down with media.
Here's an example of one of their templates:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/f772689190b08068bff2c0c6dd8db184_wix_mp.png" alt="wix" />
Website: <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a>
<h2>WordPress</h2>
There are numerous themes available for creating amazing galleries with WordPress. Here is a list of direct links to places where you can find some amazing gallery / photo based WordPress themes and Plugins:
<ol>
<li>Photocrati is one of the most advanced gallery centric setups for WordPress you can find – <a href="https://www.photocrati.com/demos/" target="_blank">Try the demo</a></li>
<li>Themeforest has a wide selection of gallery / photo based WordPress themes – <a href="https://themeforest.net/category/wordpress#content" target="_blank">Visit Themeforest</a></li>
<li>Enigma by RocketTheme has an amazing gallery plugin – <a href="https://demo.rockettheme.com/joomla-templates/enigma/" target="_blank">Check it out</a></li>
<li>ElegantThemes has a ton of amazing themes and you get every theme they have for one price (less than $50) – <a href="/elegantthemes" target="_blank">Check them out</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>Coppermine 
</h2>
Coppermine is one of the most popular web gallery CMS based on PHP scripts. It employs a MySQL back end. It is highly customizable by means of plugins and seems to be a perfect choice for creating a photo blog or image gallery online.
Website: <a href="http://coppermine-gallery.net/" target="_blank">Coppermine</a>
<h2>Zenphoto 
</h2>
Zenphoto is arguably the most popular CMS when it comes to sharing images. The goal behind Zenphoto is simple: web gallery management! The interface is sleek and wonderful, with separate tabs for configuring the different components of your gallery. Further more, Zenphoto is supplemented by numerous templates and plugins (including some that feature integration with a WordPress blog).
Website: <a href="http://www.zenphoto.org" target="_blank">Zenphoto</a>
<h2>Piwigo</h2>
If you prefer having a gorgeous theme or template for your gallery (who doesn't, by the way?), Piwigo might just be the right CMS for you. With numerous themes and plugins in its arsenal, Piwigo is a popular open source CMS for web gallery management. It is packed with features, and just in case you are still looking for a web host, Piwigo.com also provides web hosting!
Website: <a href="http://www.piwigo.org" target="_blank">Piwig</a>o
<h2>Gallery</h2>
Gallery is an open source web based photo album organizer. Gallery gives you an intuitive way to blend photo management seamlessly into your own website whether you're running a small personal site or a large community site.
Website: <a href="http://gallery.menalto.com/" target="_blank">Gallery</a>

Ten Content Management Systems for Photo Galleries

For many good reasons, ThemeForest is the go-to website for WordPress themes (as well as for a whole bunch of other platforms), but if you're struggling to find a worthwhile template, it may be time to broaden your horizons.Over the years, I have worked with WordPress enough to have sampled a wide range of WordPress theme vendors – and although ThemeForest is excellent – I have discovered gems elsewhere.Our Theme Vendor Directory is a great place to start looking, but below, I've selected my personal top five places to find epic WordPress themes.<h2>1. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.studiopress.com/">StudioPress</a></h2>If you're looking for pure professionalism, look no further.StudioPress craft their themes themselves, building each one upon their world-famous Genesis Theme Framework. So, not only will you get a sharp looking theme from StudioPress, but you can rest assured that the back-end is solid, too.Prices from: $59.95<h2>2. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/">ElegantThemes</a></h2>The WordPress templates at ElegantTheme are, well, elegant.They only have 87 themes (at the time of writing), but each one is beautifully put together. I also really like the back-end of their themes, as well as the shortcodes that their themes come bundled with.The only issue that you may have with ElegantThemes; is their fee structure. You can't purchase one theme individually. Instead, you have to sign up to a $69 or $89 per year subscription plan, or pay a one-time fee of $249 for full access to their themes and plugins.Prices from: $69 per year<h2>3. <a target="_blank" href="http://themefuse.com/">ThemeFuse</a></h2>Like ElegantThemes, ThemeFuse doesn't exactly have a gigantic library (in fact, they have less than 40), but it's quality over quantity as far as I'm concerned.I find their themes (which they build themselves) to be very bold and eye-catching, so their offerings are worth checking out if that's what you're looking for.Prices from: $45<h2>4. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.templatemonster.com/">Template Monster</a></h2>Template Monster has a strong reputation, and that's mainly down to the excellence of their themes.They commission web designers to build templates, and this system seems to do a good job of keeping the quality level high. Their prices aren't bad, either.Prices from: $45<h2>5. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mojo-themes.com/">Mojo Themes</a></h2>Mojo Theme can be a little hit and miss at times, but it's home to some very snazzy WordPress themes.Furthermore, it boasts a wide range of very cheap themes that don't actually look too bad at all, for their price. A good place to look for a bargain.Prices from: $6<h2>Where Do You Shop for WordPress Themes?</h2>The list of WordPress template vendors above should tide you over, but be sure to check out our Theme Directory for more quality vendors.Or, you could always try coding your own themes.Got another source of classy WordPress Themes? Let me know your favourite vendors in the comments section below!

5 Places to Find Epic WordPress Themes (Other Than ThemeForest)

Elemental is the new theme framework for WordPress from Mimbo Pro designers, Pro Theme Design.

Today we're going to take a look at it in detail and highlight what makes it such a good choice. For those who are unaware, it is the very theme framework that is runs this website.
Some of the features that are included with this framework are:
<ul>
<li>Animated multi-level dropdown menus</li>
<li>12 custom page templates for contact forms, sitemaps, image galleries, blogrolls, and much more</li>
<li>Breadcrumb options</li>
<li>Custom control panel options to control column size, typography, navigation, and more</li>
<li>Four widgetized regions for flexibility</li>
<li>Dashboard widget for upgrade reminders</li>
<li>Custom masthead image and logo controls</li>
<li>Image nail resizing</li>
<li>Support for gravatars, author comment highlighting, threaded comments, and paged comments</li>
<li>Full localization and translation support</li>
<li>Custom widgets for popular posts, social networking, Twitter updates, related posts, and more</li>
<li>Additional customizable content areas via action hooks</li>
<li>Custom admin bar for dashboard shortcuts</li>
</ul>
Elemental provides it's own Dashboard menus within WordPress that allow for a good chunk of configuration functions outlined above as well as a custom section that allows you to place HTML or other code within certain predefined locations within the theme using it's built in hooks.
There are a number of page templates that come with this screen. You can see most of them at work on this site. Take a look at our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contact/">contact page</a> here on CMS Critic. This is a custom page template that comes complete with the contact form and captcha authentication. All you have to do is create the page and select the template. There are also templates for a giant tag cloud which you can see in use on our tag page, a site map page template that you can see on our sitemap page as well as archives complete with a dropdown box and calendar embedded (see on our archives page).
We only make use of a fraction of the templates available, however.
Looking to create an image gallery? There's a template for that too:

Or perhaps you want a 3 or 4 column widgetized page? This template comes complete with 2, 3 or 4 column widgetized page templates so you can create that perfect look.
Where does Elemental really shine? From an SEO perspective, we're very pleased with the results.. it's a clean and lean theme framework that looks great. It really shines with child themes and if you choose, there is already one available. It's called ‘The Local' and is available from the Pro Theme Design website as well.
Elemental may not be a free framework, but it's one of the best premium ones we've seen so far and it's priced fair with a single license available for less than $60.
We chose to put Elemental to the test on <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/">CMS Critic</a> and our sister site, <a href="http://www.linuxcritic.com">Linux Critic</a> and we've been floored by the results.  Automatic nail images are pulled from the latest post for us with no effort, we can create any layout we want and it's fast.
Take it for a spin. There are demo's of it and The Local on the Pro Theme Design website, you'll be blown away by their features: Elemental Website

Introduction to the Elemental Theme Framework for WordPress

Theme frameworks have always been around but lately they have begun to gain in popularity as more people discover the flexibility that they bring to the table. There is no doubt that there are more than enough themes available for WordPress to suit a number of needs but frameworks provide something different, they provide individuality.
There's a good sense of satisfaction to being able to create something unique for your site and theme frameworks are a good start on this path. They also help teach you about the structure of WordPress and how powerful it can be when it's used to it's full extent.
Here is a list of what we consider to be the best WordPress theme frameworks:
<h2>PageLines</h2>
A drag-and-drop platform that allows you to build a website in a professional way. PageLines theme offers an unmatched level of customization and, for the price, is an incredibly good deal. It produces clean code and amazing websites.
Some of the Features:
<ul>
<li>Drag and Drop: A drag-and-drop platform that allows you to build a website in a professional way.</li>
<li>Responsive Design: PageLines framework will dynamically respond to the resolution of your browser or device.</li>
<li>Layout Control: Just drag &amp; drop to set up your content layout dimensions. Then select each of your 5 layout options on a page-by-page basis.</li>
<li>Section Control: Duplicate sections so that you can use them multiple times on the same page. Each section gets its own options and is controlled independently.</li>
<li>Typography: Select from over 50 web-safe and Google fonts. Completely change the look of your website's typography in seconds.</li>
<li>Color Control: Use color control to change the palette of your site in seconds. You can also change layout modes and add background images.</li>
</ul>
Interested? <a href="https://www.pagelines.com/">Try the demo</a>
<h2>Elemental</h2>
Elemental is a powerful theme with a myriad of options. With 12 page templates, tons of widgets, and customization options, it won't take much to create a unique look for your site. Elemental was designed by the same development team that put together the incredible Mimbo Pro theme.
Website: Pro Theme Design
<h2>Thesis</h2>
Thesis is a very popular theme framework. There are tons of child themes for thesis available and it's known for performing well in the search engines. It provides a large number of options and is extremely configurable. There's a bit of a learning curve to get used to but once you do, it's quite amazing what can be done with this theme.
Website: <a href="https://diythemes.com/thesis/">Thesis</a>
<h2>Genesis</h2>
Genesis is, quite simply, the most popular of the WordPress theme frameworks on the market. The reasons are simple: Amazing Support + Amazing Designs + Amazing pricing.  Genesis offers state of the art code backed by some of the top WordPress developers out there. There are tons of child themes that can be used to create amazing sites and it's extremely extensible.
Here is just one sample of how it can look (there are tons of other options on their website):
Website: <a href="https://www.studiopress.com/genesis-pro/">StudioPress – Genesis</a>
<h2>Headway</h2>
Headway is another drag and drop capable theme for WordPress that allows you to create some pretty cool layouts for your site.
Some of the features:
<ul>
<li>The Headway Grid allows you to build virtually any layout you can think of. You are no longer constrained to other limited drag and drop layout systems. Headway is beyond drag and drop.</li>
<li>Add colors, background images, rounded corners, shadows, and more all without any code. Need to customize an element on one page, but not the other? No problem!</li>
<li>Responsive grid, HTML5, and CSS3 support.</li>
</ul>
Check out the video showcasing this great theme:
Website: <a href="https://headwaythemes.com/">Headway Themes</a>
<h2>Catalyst</h2>
Catalyst is an advanced theme framework that produces great, responsive websites. It is an HTML5 framework and there are child themes available for it as well.
Website: Catalyst Framework
There are definitely more frameworks out there but these are the ones that we think are the best of the best. What are your favorites?

The Best WordPress Theme Frameworks

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