I’ve been wanted to blog for some time, so have just installed WordPress. It seems to come with 2 presentation skins, where can I get more?

I was trying out some video conferencing software with an old colleague of mine when he suddenly came up with this question. He’s never really tried blogging before so was pretty green to the whole WordPress scene. It’s not a hard question to answer, but I suppose if you’ve never been there before, it’s good to get some information. So, here goes.

The presentation skins in WordPress are called themes and the great thing about them is that you can find a myriad of them around the web. What’s even better is that WordPress separates the actual content of your blog from the presentation, which means you can switch from one theme to another and retain all your content.

So, where can you find new themes from. Here are some sources:

• http://themes.wordpress.net/: This is one of the main sources of WordPress themes around, with hundreds upon hundreds of free themes.
• http://www.wpthemesfree.com/: This is a great resource. Quite a few high quality themes and added to on a regular basis.
• http://wptheme.net/: Another collection of themes
• http://www.wpskins.org/: Some more themes for you to look through.
• http://www.freshpressthemes.com/: A new site with some lovely themes

Here are some collections of themes by different sites:

• Smashing Magazine: 83 Beautiful WordPress themes you (probably) haven’t seen
• Squidoo: The Best WordPress themes
• Noupe: 45+ Must See WordPress themes

There’s quite a few to go through huh? The biggest problem is the sheer amount of choice that you need to go through. My advice is to pick a colour scheme and layout your look and just give it a try. If you don’t like it, just pick another one. Most themes are free, so all it will take is some time. Also, try and keep your theme consistent with what sort of website your blog is running. For example, if you’re running a Joke Shop, you need a theme that’s more fun than say a website selling term life insurance. The main thing is to go ahead and try out your new theme. Don’t forget, you can always change back if you don’t like it.