WordPress theme may be installed using multiple approaches. There are tons of WordPress themes available out there, both free and paid.
Because of the plethora of availability, there is frequent itch to change your theme. For one reason or other, we notice a limitation or lack of exciting feature on our current theme and wish to search and change our old them with new.
Sometimes we visit a website and become so influenced with its design that we wish to implement the same.
This article is about installing a new theme.
But a word of caution!
Don’t change your theme very often. In blogging, looks should be decent but the looks are not the standard, content is.
So if it is just an itch, do not just jump to the new installation. The functionality of the theme is much more important and it is a valid reason for the change.
Otherwise, concentrate on producing better content.
You must have seen that all the successful sites stick with their looks and do not change the themes very often.
We are into the business of blogging and content building is the core idea behind a blog.
I am not against trying to get the right look but once you do, hold your temptation of doing that frequently.
With this, we come back to the installation of a theme.
The following article is about installing the themes by three different ways to install a WordPress theme.
WordPress Admin Theme Search
WordPress theme directory is a fine place to look for free themes and it can be done by admin search functionality.
For this, the first step is to log into your WordPress admin area.
Next, click on Appearance » Themes, on the left sidebar of the admin area. You would be taken to the following page.
Once you are on the themes page, click on the Add New button at the top.
On the next screen, you will have the ability to select from the following options
- Featured WordPress themes
- Popular WordPress themes
- Latest WordPress themes
There would also be the option of applying filters so that you could narrow on your choice. Here is the screenshot.
There is also an option to search for a specific theme or search for themes with specific features.
If you search for a theme, depending on your filters you may be presented with more than one choice of themes.
You might need to study theme features before making a choice.
I have randomly chosen ColorMag theme for demo installation.
When you see the theme that you want to install, click on the theme image. You would be taken to a page where on one side theme demo is displayed and on the left side, there is install button. Just like this
Go ahead and click on the install button after you okay the look.
WordPress will now install your theme and show you a success message along with the link to activate or live preview.
Click on the activate button, and you’ve successfully installed and activated your WordPress theme.
Additional customizations may be done through the theme customizer or through a separate options panel.
Upload Theme Method from WordPress Admin
The first method described above is only for the themes that are available in the WordPress.org theme’s directory.
What if you want to install some other theme. For example, a commercial “premium” WordPress theme from companies like StudioPress or MythemeShop
[Disclosure: I am a user of both the theme houses and both are strongly recommended].
The theme of this blog is from MyThemeShop.
Or you might have got a customized theme for your site.
These themes can be installed by an upload method from the Admin area.
This method works only in themes which are self-hosted. You cannot use this option in the blogs hosted at WordPress.com.
First, you need to purchase and download the theme files on your computer.
Login to your WordPress admin area and click on Appearance » Themes.
Click on the Add New button at the top.
Instead of looking and searching for themes, click on the Upload Theme button at the top on the next screen. This button is just along the Add themes title and above the search options discussed previously.
At the prompting, choose the file you have purchased and downloaded on your computer.
Select the file and click Install Now. Wait for some time as the WordPress uploads and installs the files.
Activate the theme in a similar manner as done in the previous method after the theme is installed.
FTP Method
You can also FTP WordPress files and later install it from admin area. This method is also applicable to self-hosted blogs only.
This is an advanced method than other two and you must know about FTP, have an FTP client to carry out this and you hosting provider must have given you FTP access.
This is not recommended for those who have no idea about FTP.
After you have completed the requirements, you need to FTP an UNZIPPED folder of your purchased theme in the folder path (/wp-content/themes/).
Remember you must unzip the folders before you upload a theme using FTP.
Now go to your admin area and click on Appearance » Themes. In the list of themes, you would see the recently uploaded theme. Choose the activate option.
What kind of themes do you use? Where do you head for your favorite themes?
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