Looking to start an online magazine and don’t know where to begin? The great thing is that WordPress can serve as a fantastic (and free) content management system that comes loaded with lots of features you may otherwise only find in paid back-end software packages. There are free templates to suit just about every need too.

One such case is the Channel theme. This WordPress template is laid out to mimic the look and feel of online magazines, professional news outlets, and other similar publications. There is a jQuery slider at the top for featured articles, pre-configured ad placements, and footer widgets.

It’s also very noteworthy that the sidebar already comes with widgets for RSS subscription, email subscriptions, Flickr thumbnail images, recent comments, and more. Along the top of the page, it is easy to configure different sections based on the categories of your articles. If you have a sports news site, for instance, you can have tabs for NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and so on, making it easy for readers to find exactly what they want.

Check out the live demo for a better sense of what to expect from the Channel theme, then go to Theme Junkie to find the free download link.