With a WordPress review theme it is easier than ever to start up a cool looking and feature rich review website or magazine.
Websites that review movies, music, software, smartphones, games etc. have become really popular as the last stop before making an online purchase. The same is true for websites that collect and aggregate reviews to give an overview as they minimize the risk of using bad or false reviews.
A good example of such a site could metacritic.While it is useful for everyone to read expert reviews and recommendations value goes further up when visitors can also share their own personal judgment.
Like in most other areas of website construction WordPress also have some pretty good solutions for creating a new website where both experts and user can share their reviews with the website visitors.The availability of WordPress review themes does not some close to the massive numbers of themes created for areas like blogging, business websites, web shops etc. but as you can see below there are some really interesting options available. Further if some specific requirements you have are not satisfied 100% you should be able to find some WordPress plugins to help you out.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you). I recommend that you do your own independent research before purchasing any product or service. This article is not a guideline, a recommendation or endorsement of specific products.
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Made
Made is an industrial strength review/magazine theme powered by a rock solid framework built to showcase your content and proven to increase the amount of time users spend on your site. two unique skins, unlimited color schemes, and a brilliant array of provided background designs enable you to make Made your own.
Here are a few examples of the different types of review styles Made offer.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Gonzo – Clean, Responsive WP Magazine
Gonzo is built with semantic HTML5 /CSS3 and is completely responsive. Not only is it responsive but it also keeps that magazine feel right down to mobile screen sizes. Practically every typographic element has been endlessly tweaked for different screen sizes to make sure it looks great no matter what the device.
Easy to use review system with support for both stars and percentage ratings. You also have the option of placing the review at the top or bottom of the post.
On top of that, the reviews and other posts share the same taxonomy (category system). You can mix the reviews in with your other content or separate them; that’s your call.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
InReview
InReview is an advanced Review Theme that allows you to transform your WordPress blog into a fully-functional ratings website. The theme makes rating products easy with our custom options and integrated user-review system. The theme also includes affiliate integrated and custom widgets to help you increase conversions.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Elegant Themes (Premium Theme)
ReviewIt
ReviewIt is a WordPress and BuddyPress theme that provides you with powerful review and community features.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
SwagMag
SwagMag, you can load up your site with tons of content and then present it to your users in an organized way using one of the many page templates and layouts. SwagMag’s front page has a content-rich design to give your users the best user experience possible, and it’s guaranteed to increase both the average length of time that your users spend on your site and the average number of pages that they view.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Continuum
It is best used for newspaper and magazine blogs, but because of all of the custom widgets, shortcodes, page templates, unique sidebars, and custom menus, it can be molded into whatever kind of site you want, like a portfolio site for example. Continuum fully supports and was designed specifically for WordPress 3.0+. Continuum features an extensive Feed Framework which intuitively groups and displays your posts, and lets the user sort the posts several ways depending on which part of the site they are on. Continuum is great for Magazine & News blogs, Gaming sites, Movie & Music review blogs, product review sites like Cnet.com, portfolio sites, personal blogs, and book review blogs.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Price Compare
Start a sleek price comparison site in no time! Use Amazon and Commision Junction to stream thousands of products directly to your site. This is strategically built with widgetized homepage, loads of custom widgets and awesome SEO capabilities.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Templatic (Premium Theme)
Score
Score is a WordPress and BuddyPress theme that is ideal for reviewing any kind of content.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Zine
Zine is a modern & responsive review theme perfect for a magazine/blog/review site. You can choose the whole appareance of your website with the theme options panel and manage your content very easily with the 5 custom post types. It can be used as a portfolio or any other purpose as well.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Reviewer
Reviewer is a WordPress theme built for one purpose: writing reviews. Whether it’s reviews for movies or TV shows, Reviewer can handle it.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Bodega
Bodega is a modern WordPress magazine style theme. Perfect for blogs/magazines writing about urban culture, action sports, movies, video games, music, fashion and many more.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Broadway
Broadway features a built-in review system with up to 5 rating criteria. However this time we also added a user rating option so the user can give their opinion on a review. Broadway also comes with 3 post formats (video, music & gallery). So with the built-in review system and post formats you have the tools to create a site for almost any niche. Furthermore you can customize the look of the site easily via the custom theme options panel.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Boulevard
Boulevard is a straightforward and feature-rich WordPress magazine theme. With the built-in review system (with up to 5 rating criteria) and the 3 post formats (videos, music & galleries) Boulevard can be used for almost any niche. Furthermore you can customize the look of the site easily via the custom theme options panel.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Media Store
Media Store is a reviews and downloads theme that is ideal for people who want to review items and also allow users to download files from each of these reviews, similar to how iTunes work.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Avenue
Avenue is a feature-rich WordPress magazine theme and is suitable for almost any niche. The theme comes with an inbuilt review system and 3 post formats (videos, audio & galleries). The homepage layout is very flexible, you can built your own layout using the 3 homepage widgets. You can also easily change the skin so it fits your needs!
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Feature!
Feature! is a magazine theme that works perfectly with BuddyPress and BBPress. Now you can build a community around your website with social networking functions and forums. With 6 core color schemes, unlimited background colors and over 100 background patterns. Feature! is as customizable as it gets. This theme comes with a built in review system with 3 different thumbnail types (Standard, Box and App) which is perfect for gaming and movie niches.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Backstreet
Backstreet is a modern WordPress magazine, portfolio and blog theme. With the 3 post formats (videos, audio & galleries) Backstreet can be used for almost any niche. Backstreet also built-in review system (with up to 5 rating criteria). Furthermore you can customize the look of the site easily via the custom theme options panel.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
GamePress 3
gp3 is the ultimate in gaming theme. GamePress has been re-built from the ground up to take advantage of the exciting new features available in WordPress 3.0 and is sporting a great new clean, modern design with a hint of classic design elements.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Maverick – Blog/Magazine WordPress Theme
Maverick is a fixed layout wordpress theme. It is suitable for almost any type of blogs including media, reviews, portfolio and even business. The Theme is extremely simple to get up and running, and includes a lot of options allowing for complete customization.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Cult – A stylish magazine theme
Cult is a sleek magazine wordpress theme designed with a contemporary modern vibe. This theme takes a stylish approach to traditional online publications, with clear documentation and an intuitive design. Cult is an excellent choice for any online magazine or review site for movies, bands and popular culture. If your looking for a sophisticated WordPress theme with great features, you just found it.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
The Times is a flexible WordPress blog/magazine theme built with latest WordPress features. This theme comes with a review system (up to 7 custom criterias) , powerful options panel, clean and modern design and etc. The homepage layout is very flexible, you can built your own layout using the homepage widgets or use a classic view style for fast blogging. You can also easily change the overall style of your site so it fits your needs (you can pick up custom color for a lot of the site elements).
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Marisa
Marisa is a simple, clean and beautiful WordPress magazine theme with great features, such as the built in review system that lets you review whatever you want and gives you up to 5 rating criteria. Furthermore you can add a “Buy now button” which you can use for example an affiliate link. The theme comes with 2 skins, a light & dark. You can easily customize the main and secondary colors of the theme inside the custom Theme Options.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
WP Pro Real Estate 2 WordPress Theme
Vibrant Media combines a unique blog design with an excellent user experience. With all its customization features possibilities are endless for a user as to how much could be accomplished with this stylish wordpress theme.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
ProReview
ProReview is packed with a TON of great and powerful features like, custom slider, extensive option panel, high customization options, useful WP features, custom widgets, shortcodes and custom post types, this will make your job easier while building review sites, give it a try and you’ll see this is the only theme you’ll ever need to build review websites. ProReview theme uses all the power and flexibility of WordPress to build effective and outstanding review sites with full content capability.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by ProReview (Premium Theme)
LeetPress
LeetPress is a WordPress gaming theme with all the features you need to create a great gaming site, such as reviews, videos and screenshots. You can take a look at the video below to see how easy it is to create reviews. LeetPress also comes with 7 other help videos that will guide you through the theme.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Reviews
Create a full-fledged Review site, provide your own ratings and get ratings from your visitors as well. Reviews is a visually stunning WordPress theme; ideal for enthusiasts to review movies, books, etc and provide ratings to them.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Templatic (Premium Theme)
Black Aperture
Black Aperture is an all-in-one news and reviews theme specifically catered to video games.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Reviewer
Reviewer is a WordPress theme built for one purpose: writing reviews. Whether it’s reviews for movies or TV shows, Reviewer can handle it.
![the-reviewer[1]](http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/the-reviewer1.jpg "the-reviewer[1]")
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Ingredients – A Fresh Recipe WordPress Theme
Ingredients is fresh looking WordPress theme made especially for people like you wanting to showcase your delicious recipes with friends and everyone on the web! Choose from an unlimited variation of colors to use for all the colored elements (such as links, buttons, etc.) using the color wheel in the custom theme options panel. Also it features a Review Custom Post Type where you can create a separate page dedicated to showing reviews from people who have tried the recipe. These review posts are separate from the blog and recipe posts.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Affiliate Review Theme
While most review themes are filled with destracting elements, this one is clean, simple and designed for maximum clickthrough rates.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Warrior Forum (Free Theme)
Imperial
Imperial features custom built reviews module allowing you to easily add any type of review (product, service, etc.) to a post.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
MediaScene Music Premium WordPress Theme
MediaScene is a perfect music theme. The theme is provided with many option of customization and is very simple to use. It features portfolio for photo sets, album review with rating, 3 Custom post types, 8 Custom Widgets and more.
MORE INFO | DEMO – by Themeforest (Premium Theme)
Sonny M. Day is a passionate SEO and web design enthusiast who loves photography, mountain climbing, snorkeling and dirt bike riding.
I like what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever work and exposure!
Keep up the superb works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll.
you are the boss !!! really helped me to choose a review theme for my new site
[…] With WordPress rating plugins, you are able to provide a system by which visitors can review and rate products, posts and comments on your WordPress website. Instead of just reading the contents of the site, visitors will be able to evaluate and provide valuable feedback, not only to the website owners, but also to other users of the site. Plugins are excellent for adding new features to an existing website, but if you are planning a new one it is also worth considering WordPress review themes. […]
Add “Ratius” to the list 🙂 Cheers!
Awesome.
Thanks so much for putting the time and effort into this article. Surprisingly review themes is one area where it is hard to find good themes (apart from Themeforest). I’m on Thesis presently (like yourself) – it’s quick to load but I’m missing the style that a more pre-loaded theme can offer.
cheers
Inger
I thought this was a great article, with the collection you have put together and the subject area you have looked at. I see a lot of collections like this but not many that look into themes based on reviews. I thought the collection had great variety and will be great inspiration for me with my future design work. The theme that stood out for me would have to be the Backstreet theme, I love the urban feel of the theme through the design, graphics and use of colour. This theme has real impact when you view it and the… Read more »