When you browse the code in the default WordPress theme, you have no idea what any of it does and you are running out of time. You need a crash course in the worst way. You need the Naked WordPress Theme.

Learn how to theme WordPress with the Naked WordPress theme

The Naked WordPress theme was created by Joshua Beckman to be “The solution for designers who don’t know WordPress”.

This is not your ordinary bare bones theme, stripped of everything but the essentials. Naked WordPress assumes that you know nothing about WordPress and includes comments on all aspects of the theme. Every single piece of the template files is commented so that you can understand what it does. Armed with that knowledge you can safely rearrange and customize your theme. You’ll be able to remove pieces without worrying about deleting something essential.

Here’s a quick example of just how useful the Naked WordPress theme is for beginners. If you’re brand new to WordPress, you probably have no idea what wp_head() does. Naked WordPress clues you in to how important it is so that you don’t screw things up:

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<?php wp_head(); 
// This fxn allows plugins, and WordPress itself, to insert themselves/scripts/css/files 
// (right here) into the head of your website. 
// Removing this fxn call will disable all kinds of plugins and WordPress default insertions. 
// Move it if you like, but I would keep it around.
?>

With this kind of commenting built into the theme, there’s no need to look things up in the codex when you’re building in a hurry. The functions are neatly summarized and commented inline to save you time.

Naked WordPress features:

• Responsive styling
• Custom menus
• Custom sidebar and widgets
• Blog, with all the WordPress goodies we know and love (comments, categories, tags, etc.)
• Pages, Home page

Of course, reading up on the codex and learning all the ins and outs of WordPress theming is highly recommended if you want to be able to expertly navigate it and create your own themes. However, if you’re more interested in designing the theme than building it, then the Naked Theme will help to keep things moving while you’re still learning WordPress. It functions as both a starter theme and a crash course all in one.

Download the Naked WordPress theme for free from its homepage and follow the project on github. If it helps you build something, consider showing a little love to the developer by way of a donation.

photo credit: emanuela franchini via photopin cc

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This template is a lighter version of Themesforest’s premiuim business/portfolio template. It is coming soon as a WordPress theme is packed with perks and features including:

• A Fully Responsive Layout
• Filterable Portfolios (2 columns, 3 columns and portfolio detail page with carousal)
• Working Contact Form
• Valid HTML/CSS
• Cross Browser Compatible
• Blog (main and single page templates)
• Beautiful Pricing pages (3 columns, 2 columns)
• Components page showing an example usage of menus, carousals, dropdowns, tabs etc…
• FAQ page
• Based on Twitter Bootstrap

One of the best features of this Twitter Bootstrap theme is the integrated pricing tables. They’re designed to match the theme and provide a clear display of your pricing structure.

The sortable portfolio template options are also a nice touch and absolutely essential for creative agencies.

Check out a live demo of the Agency theme to see all the different page templates in action.

Since Agency is a Twitter Bootstrap WordPress theme, you’ve got tons of easy-to-use UI elements and styles baked right in and ready to use should you want to expand upon the basic theme. View the Components page to see all that is available for use with Agency.

Many thanks to Muhammad Shahbaz Saleem of EGrappler for creating the Agency theme and offering it for free. He’s currently in the process of converting this to a WordPress theme and we’ll add the link here as soon as we receive it. The licensing allows you to use it to make your own website or a website for your clients. So if you need a clean, responsive template for a business portfolio, download Agency and give it a try.

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Here’s a quick overview of all the new freebies:

Tetris: A Free Masonry Tumblog WordPress Theme

The Tetris theme employs a masonry-style layout to display tumblog-style posts. It makes use of the excellent Soliloquy plugin for the featured slider on the home page.

It also has support for 7 post formats, including standard, gallery, audio, video, quote, link and image. This free responsive WP theme is perfect for multi-media bloggers.

View a live demo of the Tetris theme.

Photo WordPress Theme

The Photo theme was designed to showcase galleries and photography. It’s a minimalist style layout with an elegant, simple grid for displaying posts.

View the live demo of the Photo theme.

Thoughts: A Free Responsive Blog Theme

Thoughts is a beautiful theme designed to showcase the work of writers. It’s unique in that it has no widgetized areas, no sidebar and no footer. Thoughts has support for standard, gallery, image, video, quote, audio and link post formats. This is a stunning, content-focused theme that is perfect for photographers, vloggers, designers and your regular blogger.

Check out the Thoughts theme demo to see it in action.

In addition to the free themes, WPExplorer has also released a new free plugin called Symple Shortcodes. This plugin makes it easy to add effects and UI elements in your content, such as social icons, highlights, buttons, boxes, testimonials, tabs, pricing tables, columns and more.

Head on over to WPExplorer to check out their fancy new redesign and awesome new free themes and plugins. While you’re there, make sure to enter the giveaway. You could be one of three winners who will receive a free WPExplorer Premium Theme plus a super secret swag box.

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Tom Creighton designed and developed the Glider theme to provide a seamless reading experience with no page loads and no interruptions while accessing content.

Check out a live demo and click the arrow to see the post menu. The theme also supports arrow key navigation, so you can use your keyboard to get back to the menu.

Glider in a Nutshell:

As you can see, this is not your typical WordPress theme. How does it work? Creighton uses a unique technique to simplify the display of the content and strip out all the extras.

Glider uses/abuses jQuery’s handy .load() function to essentially load itself, strip out everything but the post content, then drop that back into itself, all behind the scenes. This allows the entire theme layout + JS to exist in one file, making for easy tweaks, typeface changes, etc..

This theme is especially fitting for infrequent bloggers and those who don’t need to provide an extensive archive. Download Glider for free from its project page on github. Use it as it is with no frills or modify it to suit your needs. Many thanks to Tom Creighton for making Glider available to the community.

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Workality is a new free WordPress portfolio theme that was designed for creative people and agencies. The layout responds well to desktops, phones and tablets alike.

Workality Features:

• Custom Post Types – Items in the portfolio are created as a custom content type with creative fields for showcasing works
• 4 Portfolio Layouts – 4 different thumbnail sizes for your portfolio layout: Small, Medium, Big and Portrait.
• Responsive Design – Images, videos, and text will scale down gracefully to iPad, iPhone and all mobile devices
• Localization Support – Workality includes default.po/mo files so you can translate the theme into the language of your choice.
• Archive + 404 Pages – Custom 404 and Archive page for a better navigation experience

Here’s what the homepage looks like:

Check out a live demo of Workality.

If the features included in this free theme aren’t enough for you, there’s also a commercial version available for $19.99. Workality Premium offers many more ways to customize your site within the dashboard.

Workality Premium Features

• Includes 3 different color presets – Light, Gray, and Dark
• Customization options – Create your own color scheme and background, customize the text and the colors of each element on the project pages
• 500+ Google Fonts
• Sliders – Add images or embed videos to slider with unlimited quantities. Also captions can be added on image slides
• Shortcodes – Available shortcodes include Sliders, Google Map, Contact Form, Tabs, Buttons, Alerts, Glyphicons, 16 Columns Grid

Quick preview of Workality Premium:

The demo for the premium version of Workality looks very similar to the free version, but most of the extra features are available behind the scenes in the dashboard.

If you need to get your portfolio up online in a hurry, Workality provides a professional, affordable option. Many thanks to Mert @ Workality for offering this theme as a free download.

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Distinguishing Features

If you’re looking for a dynamic, all-around great WordPress real estate theme framework, you’ve got to consider wpCasa. It’s got so much to offer.

Style

• Responsive design
• MultiSite-capable (see back-end demo link later in this post)
• 4 archive layout choices (2 with right or left sidebar, 2 without a sidebar), able to choose different layout for blog archives vs property archives
• 18 pre-made widgets and 12 widget areas
• Threaded comments
• Customizable header logo, favicon, and background
• Pre-built shortcodes for buttons, boxes, sliders, galleries, and more
• Multiple child themes available and more to come (or make your own)

International

• Fully localized (translatable) with English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German Language Packs already available
• Support for square meters, square feet, square yards, or acre(s) measurement units
• Support for USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and 5 other currency symbols (also a customizable “Other” option), including support for decimal vs comma and placing currency symbol before or after the amount

Built for Real Estate Professionals

• Supports multiple listing statuses: For Sale, For Rent, and any others you enter
• Visitors can bookmark (favorite) listings and click for a print-friendly version
• Mapping of your input listings
• Multiple “Contact us” options and a customizable email template for when someone contacts you about a listing (i.e. the email notification that you receive)
• Custom dsIDX integrations (Diverse Solutions IDX), including option to search IDX or just the site’s (i.e. your) input listings, with customizable search settings (enable/disable each search field, advanced search, and filter options)
• Customizable author/agent and single listing slugs (URL rewriting)
• Sample content available to get you started (.xml import file)

Pricing and Terms

wpCasa is a theme framework (i.e. parent theme). By itself, it’s 59 Euros (USD conversion). If you add a child theme at the time of purchase, it’s an additional 10 Euros (USD). If you purchase a child theme in a separate transaction, each child theme is 19 Euros (USD). All purchases include unlimited use (including your agent or client sites), forever updates (guaranteed to work with the latest stable version of WordPress), and unlimited forum support for the purchaser. Additional terms can be viewed here.

Get Started with wpCasa

If you want to try out wpCasa for yourself, get started with the front-end demo (framework and child themes) and then get detailed with your own back-end demo (which runs on WP MultiSite so you know it’s compatible). Once familiar with it, you can purchase wpCasa or post in the pre-sales forum to ask any questions you may have prior to purchasing. If interested, they also have a wpCasa affiliate program.

wpCasa Launch Promotion

wpCasa launched in July 2012, and it’s already been enhanced with several keen features since then. To celebrate, wpCasa is offering WPMU.org readers a chance to get it free!

The Prize

5 framework + 1 child theme packages will be given away on November 10, 2012.

To Enter

Share your pain and how wpCasa can be your gain.

Option 1: Tweet this (fill in the blank):

I want to win the new @wpcasa WordPress real estate theme framework from @wpmuorg because ___

Option 2: Comment below, sharing why you’d benefit from a real estate theme framework like wpCasa. Are you a tech-savvy real estate broker or agent? Have you tried others and they just weren’t flexible enough to meet your needs? Or maybe you have real estate website clients and are looking for a platform to create child themes on?

We’ll semi-randomly draw names on November 10, 2012. There’s no extra benefit to having an extremely long or short comment – but content counts – and you can both Tweet and comment if you wish. We’ll comment below on November 10 to let you know who won.

WINNERS!

Thanks to all the entrants for expressing their appreciation for wpCasa and for being patient…. Drum roll please… The winners are:

• @Giuliog
• Shawn K. Hall
• Scott Yearton
• Arlen Nagata
• @Gunn4r

You’ll be getting a contact from Simon at wpCasa.

We had 13 contestants between Twitter and WPMU.org comments; thanks to all that entered. I hope you consider purchasing wpCasa even if you didn’t win. Special thanks to wpCasa for coming to me with the giveaway idea. Simon’s a good guy.

Connect with wpCasa

Check out wpCasa on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. Read their blog/announcements at wpCasa News.

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• Free WordPress themes!
• Free premium themes!
• Free WordPress plugins!
• Free premium plugins!
• Free SEO secrets unveiled for free!
• Free nude women!
• Free nude males!
• Free nude pandas!
• Cats! Because you know, they can stand on their own.
• Cheeseburgers! (Sorry, got hungry…)
• Also: More FREE WordPress stuff!

That got your attention huh? No? How about a cat lying on a book then?

You know what I got the other day? An email that asked me to insert more keywords into my columns, because it was bad for Google Panda yadayada. Some SEO shit that actually doesn’t matter one bit, no matter what the experts say. In the short run sure, but since this post will stay online FOREVER AND EVER, or at least until the staff deletes it, whatever’s the keyword internal link dropping flavor of the month has most likely been analyzed to death by Googlebots.

Killer Googlebots.

Those guys scare me.

“Insert more keywords or we’ll fire your ass!”

They didn’t say that, really, but they did say they’ll fire my ass since I’m not dropping enough keywords and links in my columns.

Yep, that’s right. Fired ass. Shitcanned.

Here’s the fun part. Maybe they should’ve held on to this decision a bit. You see, I’ve got an arrangement with The Farmer. It involves donkey blood, moonshine, a very weird and trippy night on mushrooms and googling free WordPress abominations. It also involves the fact that I’ve got four bloody columns left on my contract.

Four.

Columns.

With.

Carte.

Blanche.

But hey, I figured I’d be nice to the guys. Drop some keywords, give them the Google juice they so clearly craves.

So, this is me dropping keywords.

WordPress, WordPress themes, WordPress plugins, BuddyPress themes, BuddyPress plugins, free everyfuckingthing with WordPress attached to it.

I don’t think that worked. Maybe I need to be name-dropping instead?

Matt Mullenweg, Mike Arrington, Om Malik, Mark Zuckerberg, Jane Wells, Kevin Rose, Nacin Nacin Nacin Nacin Nacin Nacin Nacin Nacin.

Man, that Nacin fellow sure gets under my skin, it keeps echoing out. There is probably some reason for this. Most likely I’ll find it in the bottom of this bottle of wine.

You see, I’m upset. I was just canned from what probably is the biggest WordPress site there is. This is my livelihood after all, writing columns for WPMU.org, paid in chocolate bunnies, pissing off people who really are pissed off at The Farmer but taking it out on me because this little column of mine is published here. On this site. With thousands of eyeballs.

Sans keywords.

I’m not sure how I’ll get over this tragedy.

After I hit publish, I’ll only have three columns left here. Three columns where I can do whatever the fuck I want. They can censor me, The Man always Can, but they can’t bloody well censor whoever screendumps these things.

Nor can they make Google remove their cached version. That’s the fun part, because since that SEO fellow who thinks I should drop some keywords apparently is doing his job, Google will no doubt pick up on these final columns in no time.

Chew on that.

This Week’s Piece of WordPress Advice
Don’t write for SEO, write good content. Period.

Photo by Manuel Cacciatori (CC)

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SimpleCorp

Demo | Download

Twenty Twelve

Demo | Download

Murmur

Demo | Download

Luca’s Theme

Demo | Download

Pilot Fish

Demo | Download

Path

Demo | Download

Meeta

Demo | Download

Clean Response

Demo | Download

Personal Page Theme

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Pytheas

Demo | Download

Amazing that these are all free, isn’t it? Let us know if you’ve released a theme recently that you’d like for us to review. We’d be happy to check it out!

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Everyone loves free themes, right? We’ve got a great one for you today. My team at Untame has created its first free WordPress and BuddyPress theme based on Twitter Bootstrap. There’s a story behind this theme that I should fill you in on.

Two weeks ago, we adopted a beautiful baby dog, an Italian Greyhound that we named Luca Brasi. He is a vivacious puppy, happy and outgoing, and very fast. We fell in love with him the first time we saw him; his previous family needed to re-home him and we were only too happy to adopt our first puppy. Last weekend, however, he was running and playing when he jumped off the couch and came down hard. He started crying, so we scooped him up and took him to the emergency pet clinic, where the doctors told us he had broken his leg in two places. As a 14-week-old puppy, he needs surgery to repair his broken bones with a steel plate so that he doesn’t become permanently lame as an adult.

Unfortunately, the surgery that he requires is very expensive and we are having a hard time trying to give him the care that he needs, so we have decided to release this responsive Wordpress and BuddyPress theme absolutely free of charge, in honor of Luca. Download this theme, use it as you like and, if you can, please consider a small donation to help pay for fixing the little guy’s leg. The doctors have told us that the total expense for getting him healthy with surgery and hospitalization is $3,000, so we are setting that as our goal. If this theme somehow achieves more than our goal we will dedicate any remaining funds to our local Italian Greyhound Rescue Group, Hazeljane’s Blessings.

Luca’s Theme features a spacious responsive layout, feature slider, and styles for BuddyPress and bbPress. The best part is that you can take advantage of all the goodness that Twitter Bootstrap has to offer.

Luca’s Theme Features:

• Responsive layout for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress
• Built-in Custom Post Type Nivo Slider
• Custom Author Byline Implementation
• Modern CSS3 Style Techniques
• Custom Homepage Template
• Custom Full Width Template
• Left Sidebar Template (Your sidebar, your choice!)
• Custom 404 Page Including Popular Posts
• Future Updates and Features
• It’s absolutely free!!!!

View a live demo to see the theme in action.

The Luca Theme is loosely based on a theme we recently created for ThePinkLeague.com, a BuddyPress community dedicated to helping girls win in fantasy football as well as the fight against breast cancer. We’ve modified Luca’s Theme to be suitable for a regular WordPress blog and/or a BuddyPress community.

Of course this theme is not perfect. We’ve only just begun work on it. If you’d like to conduct a peer review on the theme, we’d greatly appreciate it. If you find any bugs or a better way to do something in the theme, please share!

You can download Luca’s Theme for free from the demo site. If you enjoy using this theme, please consider sending a small donation. Help us get little Luca back on his feet. We are only too happy to devote this theme to his cause and invite you to join with us to make sure this adopted pup gets the surgery he needs to live a long and happy life. Thank you!

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Path is a clean, responsive theme designed for blogs with multiple authors.

Path has some very unique options for arranging your content with different layouts. It also includes a number of helpful features that you might normally have to add as a separate plugin, such as breadcrumbs and content-aware widgets.

Path’s most notable features include:

• Per-post layouts which means that you can choose one, two or three column layout. Content can be placed on the left, right or center.
• Post settings that allow you to add a custom stylesheet for individual posts.
• Built-in breadcrumb system and pagination
• Support for Post thumbnails
• Multiple sidebars areas: Primary, Secondary, Subsidiary, Before Content and After Singular.
• Sticky posts shown in a responsive Flexslider
• 9 page templates included: archives, authors, most popular articles by comments or views in different time spans, archives, authors, tag cloud, slider, etc.
• Dynamic body, post, and comment CSS classes.
• Fully internationalized, so you can translate the theme in any language.
• Built-in WordPress menu system with three different menus: Primary, Secondary and Subsidiary.
• Context-aware action and filter hooks.
• Some of the most-used filter hooks are shortcode-ready and have accompanying shortcodes.
• Highly-configurable widgets that give you full control over their display.
• Widget areas are content-aware, meaning that they only appear if they contain active widgets.
• Support for Post Formats.

Path also has very cool built-in support for multi-author posts. When the Co-Authors Plus plugin is installed, the theme will filter bylines so that all authors are displayed, as seen below:

View the live demo at Theme Hybrid.

Download the Path theme for free from the WordPress Theme Directory. If you plan on making modifications to it, make sure to pick up the Path Child so that you can continue to get updates to the parent theme.

Looking for more free responsive WordPress themes? You might enjoy a couple of others that we featured this month:

• Adelle: A Free Responsive WordPress Theme With a Pretty Blog Design
• Meet GavernWP: A Free Responsive WordPress Theme on a Powerful New Framework

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