If you are looking to learn how to install a WordPress theme, you have come to the right place. In this article, I will go into detail about the different ways of installing a theme.
Themes that are available to use in your WordPress are in the thousands. There are a lot of them who are entirely free or offer a free version so that you check it out before maybe buying it fully.
But there are also some great ones that provide a lot of different features that come at a price. You can be sure that you will find what you are looking for when browsing for themes in WordPress.
This article will explain how you can install a theme on your brand new WordPress site in different ways. It will help both beginners and more experienced users, so make sure to follow the article carefully.
Preparations Before Installing a WordPress Theme
Depending on the method of theme installation, you might be required to do certain preparations before. For example, if you want to upload a custom theme, you will need to have that theme downloaded and archived on your machine.
If you want to install it with an FTP client, you will need to have it installed and set up to connect to your website. After installing the theme, you will not be able to see the changes immediately. In case you are installing the theme on a fresh new site, then you are good to go immediately.
But remember to press the ‘Activate’ button when you want the theme to be displayed on your site. You could have multiple themes installed, but only the one that is activated will be shown.
Installing a Theme from the Theme Search in the Admin Panel
Installing a theme from the admin panel using the theme search tool is one of the easiest methods you can do. I recommend this option for beginners since it’s really simple to use and gets the job done really fast.
Let’s get started explaining how to do that, and alongside it, we will include tips to make this process feel smoother. First, you need to log in to your site’s admin panel. After doing that, you should press the ‘Appearance’ button located in the left side panel.
Or you can, hover over that button and press ‘Themes’. The results are the same, so you can choose either one.
The next page that loads is where you will find what themes are installed on your site and which one is active. In the example picture that I’m using below, there is only one theme installed, but we will see the change later when I install a new one.
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Now you need to press the ‘Add New’ button located at the top of the page. The next page that loads is filled with different themes for you to find. You can select from Featured, Popular, Latest, apply feature filters, and also search for a specific theme name.
After you have found the theme that fits your vision for the site. Click on the ‘Install’ button located under the theme section. You will have to wait a bit until it finishes the installation process, and after that, you will see a message window pop up and say that the theme was installed. You will see that the ‘Install’ button will now change to ‘Activate.’
If you want, you can activate the theme from this screen, and that’s it you have successfully installed a theme in your WordPress website. Depending on the theme, you may have some other things to do, like installing demo data or required plugins to make the theme look smoother.
You can do that by going back to the Themes page and pressing the ‘Customize’ button on the desired theme. As you see, the display here has changed now it displays the two themes that are installed on your site.
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Installing a Theme from the Upload Method in the Admin Panel
Learning how to install themes with the Upload method is crucial for you because paid themes are installed this way. The first method that we talked about earlier is only for free themes.
This method is recommended for everyone, and it’s not that complicated to complete. Pay attention to the steps below so that you know exactly what you are doing.
You will need to have the theme downloaded first and in an archive type file. Also, you will also need to log in to your admin panel. After you have logged in to your admin panel for your website. You will need to go to the Themes page.
You can do that by pressing the ‘Appearance’ button on the left side panel or by hovering over it and pressing the ‘Themes’ button. It’s basically the same thing so do whichever you want. You will see the page above when it loads, now press the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page.
Once the new page loads, press the ‘Upload Theme’ button at the side of Add Themes text at the top of the page.
After you have done that, you should upload the theme archive file where it says ‘Choose File’ and press the ‘Install Now’ button after you are done.
This process will take a while to complete, but after it’s done. You will see a message saying that the theme was installed successfully. You can choose to install it from that screen as well, or maybe you will have to do some customizations first.
Either way, you are done with installing the theme with the Upload method on WordPress.
Installing a Theme From the FTP Client
Installing a theme with an FTP client is a method that beginners should stay away from unless it’s their only choice. It’s a complex method that mainly the more experienced developers use.
That is because the theme files might be too large to upload manually. Let’s get started with the last method of installing a theme for your WordPress.
First of you need to download and install an FTP client, you can choose easily since there are a few of them that do the job well. After you have done that, the next step is to link your FTP account to the one that is given by your hosting provider.
Now you will need to download the theme that you want to use for your website if it isn’t already downloaded. Differently from the previous method, in this one, you will need to unzip the archive. You can do this easily with a program like WinRAR, which is completely free to use.
Right-click in the archive file and select the Extract option. That will produce a folder with all the extracted files on the archive. Usually, there will be some items that are unnecessary to the theme.
So, make sure to select the right folder when uploading to WordPress. From the FTP client, select the folder that contains the theme that you want to install. Then select the location of where you want it installed on your website, usually, the root location is preferred.
But if you know what you are doing, you can install it elsewhere too. After the last step is completed successfully, you can go to the admin panel of your site. Select the ‘Appearance’ button or hover over it and select ‘Themes’.
You will be able to see the newly installed theme in there.
Depending on which theme you have chosen. It may require some additional items such as plugins or demo data so that you can see it fully working. It’s important that you don’t forget to press the ‘Activate’ button. After you are done so that you can enable the theme for your page.
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Closing Thoughts
Learning how to install a theme for your website is an essential skill that you should have. If you are a beginner, then starting with the first two methods is recommended more because of their simplicity. However, it wouldn’t hurt learning how to install a theme with the FTP client, either.
For a website having a modern and good-looking theme with a lot of features is what is going to determine the number of visitors that it’s going to get. So make sure you find the right one for you and always keep the user in mind when picking it.
