I'm a bit confused about where to spend my money. I have a basic free theme. I want to add a bunch of features, like a membership area, a forum, and a better gallery. Should I buy a big 'multi-purpose' premium theme that claims to have all this? Or should I keep my free theme and buy separate premium plugins for each feature? I'm worried about conflicts and my site becoming a slow mess.

That's a really smart question to ask. A lot of people fall into this trap. My advice: keep your theme as simple and lightweight as possible. Use a clean, fast theme (like Blocksy, Kadence, or GeneratePress). Then, add functionality with high-quality, dedicated plugins. The problem with 'multi-purpose' themes is they try to be everything. They bundle dozens of features you'll never use, which slows your site down. It's much better to have a 'stack' you control. Get a good membership plugin (like MemberPress) and a good forum plugin (like bbPress). This way, if you ever want to change your site's look, you can just swap the theme, and all your functionality (from the plugins) stays. It's a much more flexible and professional way to build. Finding good wordpress plugins themes that work well together is the key. Are you more focused on the community (forum) or the paid content (membership) side?

Thank you! That makes so much more sense. I was leaning toward a big theme, but what you said about swapping the look later is a great point. I don't want to be 'locked in' forever. My main focus is the paid membership content. I'll start researching lightweight themes and then look for a good membership plugin. I really appreciate the advice.