A Collection of WordPress theme frameworks

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 are some of our favorite WordPress theme frameworks:

Elemental

Elemental is a new theme by the creators of the popular Mimbo Pro. It also is the theme we are running here on this site. We love this framework and it’s capabilities. It’s definitely got our vote.

Take a look at the site you are currently on if you want a demo, since we’re running it!

Website: Pro Theme Design – Elemental

Thesis

Thesis is one of the most popular theme frameworks. 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: DIYThemes – Thesis

Genesis

Genesis is the new theme framework from renowned WordPress theme designer Brian Gardner and StudioPress. This theme framework is built with the same visual appeal as previous StudioPress themes and promises some very cool functionality.

Website: StudioPress – Genesis

Headway

Headway is unique in that it’s the only framework that lets you build an entire site using just drag and drop. This is an incredibly cool framework. You can’t really understand it with a screenshot so here’s a video showcasing how it works:

Website: Headway Themes

WPUnlimited

WPUnlimited is a nice looking framework with plenty of options such as easy SEO optimization, AdSense integration, and complete theme customization.

Website: WPUnlimited

ThemeHybrid

ThemeHybrid is a framework by Justin Tadlock. It is well established, free and comes with and for a small price, you can get some interesting child themes.

Website: ThemeHybrid

Carrington

Carrington is another framework that makes it easy to create unique looks for different categories, posts and comments just by creating custom templates.

Website: Carrington

Frugal

This framework was brought to our attention by one of our commenters below and looks quite promising as well. Here’s a video introduction:

Website: Frugal Theme

Reptile

Reptile is a slick looking free framework that uses the popular 960.gs CSS framework. It’s default child theme, Komodo is pictured below:

Website: Reptile

Thematic

Thematic is a popular framework by Themeshaper that features 13 widget-ready areas, grid-based layout samples and styling for popular plugins.

Website: Thematic

Have another one you’d like to suggest that we don’t know about? Submit it to us.