Review of WordPress themes for 2013

There are many things to consider when selecting a WordPress theme. Some of them are obvious, such as if the look and feel of the design matches your industry. Others are not so obvious, such as the quality of the front end code that the theme generates. This review focuses strictly on the latter.

These are the factors we considered in the review which are relevant in 2013:

  • Responsive/mobile friendly
  • Load time performance for mobile and desktop
  • Valid HTML5 and CSS3

It is likely that you are considering other themes besides the ones reviewed here. If so, take the time to “look under the hook” as we did. If it’s a premium WordPress theme, you don’t even have to purchase it before reviewing it; you just need the demo. The only thing that is crucial is that you remove the frame that the demo is loaded in. Sometimes this is as easy as clicking the “x” to close the frame. Other times you might have to look in the source code for the URL of the pure demo.

WordPress theme review 2013

 


Pixel Press Theme:

PixelPress

Theme name: Pixel Press Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 86 HTML5 errors: 11
Mobile score: 72 CSS3 errors: 199

White Light Theme:

Whitelight-Just-another-WooThemes-Demo-site

Theme name: White Light Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 59 HTML5 errors: 4
Mobile score: 41 CSS3 errors: 95

Olya Theme:

Olya-Just-another-WooThemes-Demo-site

Theme name: Olya Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 85 HTML5 errors: 60
Mobile score: 68 CSS3 errors: 33

Scrollider Theme:

Scrollider-Just-another-WooThemes-Demo-site

Theme name: Scrollider Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 80 HTML5 errors: 16
Mobile score: 64 CSS3 errors: 61

Ellipsis Theme:

Ellipsis-Dynamic-development

Theme name: Ellipsis Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 91 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 80 CSS3 errors: 45

Sintia Theme:

Sintia-Vamtam-theme

Theme name: Sintia Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 90 HTML5 errors: 1
Mobile score: 85 CSS3 errors: 280

Super Skeleton Theme:

Super-Skeleton-Responsive-WordPress-Theme

Theme name: Super Skeleton Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 89 HTML5 errors: Cannot recover after error
Mobile score: 86 CSS3 errors: 64

Responsives Theme:

Responsives

Theme name: Responsives Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 89 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 77 CSS3 errors: 542

Smart Theme:

Smart-inspiring-innovations

Theme name: Smart Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 88 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 81 CSS3 errors: 62

Traject Theme:

Traject

Theme name: Traject Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 85 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 80 CSS3 errors: 5

MyApp Theme:

MyApp-Wordpress-Theme-Just-another-WordPress-site

Theme name: MyApp Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 85 HTML5 errors: 3
Mobile score: 75 CSS3 errors: 180

Gonzo Theme:

Gonzo-All-in-one-seo-pack-test-title

Theme name: Gonzo Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 84 HTML5 errors: 12
Mobile score: 74 CSS3 errors: 56

Smartio Theme:

Home

Theme name: Smartio Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 81 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 52 CSS3 errors: 2

Infringe Theme:

Infringe-Responsive-All-in-One-Business-Theme

Theme name: Infringe Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 79 HTML5 errors: 6
Mobile score: 67 CSS3 errors: 82

Daisho Theme:

Daisho-WordPress-Theme-Home

Theme name: Daisho Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 78 HTML5 errors: 4
Mobile score: 75 CSS3 errors: 46

 U-Design Theme:

U-Design

Theme name: U-Design Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 77 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 76 CSS3 errors: 8

 Konzept Theme:

Konzept-Home

Theme name: Konzept Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 76 HTML5 errors: 0
Mobile score: 74 CSS3 errors: 43

 Avada Theme:

Avada

Theme name: Avada Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 71 HTML5 errors: 16
Mobile score: 68 CSS3 errors: 402

SmartStart Theme:

SmartStart

Theme name: SmartStart Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 64 HTML5 errors: Document cannot be checked
Mobile score: 56 CSS3 errors: 43

Pinword Theme:

Pinword-premium-WordPress-theme

Theme name: Pinword Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 62 HTML5 errors: 28
Mobile score: 61 CSS3 errors: 4

Avenue Theme:

Avenue-WordPress-Magazine-Theme

Theme name: Avenue Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 59 HTML5 errors: 24
Mobile score: 50 CSS3 errors: 9

The Agency Theme:

The-Agency-WordPress-Theme-Home

Theme name: The Agency Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 59 HTML5 errors: 2
Mobile score: 90 CSS3 errors: 17

City Desk Theme:

City-Desk-Just-another-Gabfire-Themes-Demos-site

Theme name: City Desk Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 83 HTML5 errors: 3
Mobile score: 77 CSS3 errors: 1

WP-Clear Theme:

WP-Clear-Premium-Responsive-WordPress-Magazine-Theme

Theme name: WP-Clear Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 63 HTML5 errors: 6
Mobile score: 21 CSS3 errors: 14

Opinions Theme:

Opinions-BuddyPress-Compatible-WordPress-Magazine-Theme

Theme name: Opinions Responsive: Yes
Desktop score: 71 HTML5 errors: 6
Mobile score: 63 CSS3 errors: 63