Themes are used to quickly change the look of your site. A theme takes the information you’ve put into your database and outputs it in different ways. Here’s how you install a new one in a few short steps. First we’ll have a look at how you install a theme from Wordpress free theme directory and then how to install a downloaded theme manually.
Please note that many photography themes are different in how they add photos to your posts – they have different workflows. Test a theme out and read its instructions to find out how a particular theme works. I try to address this when I review themes.
Installing a free theme from Wordpress theme directory
Step 1: Open the theme browser. Open the Appearance tab and click on Add New Themes.
Step 2: Find a good theme. Find one you like by searching for a keyword or in a category.
Step 3: Install it. Click on the Install link on the theme you like to open up a preview. Click on the blue Install now button in that preview to download it directly into Wordpress.
Step 4: Activate your new theme. Activate your new theme by clicking the Activate link, or do it later by heading to Appearance -> Themes and activating the theme there.
Installing a downloaded theme manually
Step 1: Download your theme. Download a theme from WooThemes, Graph Paper Press or another great theme provider. Extract the files in a new folder where you have easy access to them.
Step 2: Upload your theme to your host. Start your FTP-program (I’m using FileZilla below, just like I did when we installed Wordpress). Navigate to [wordpress directory]/wp-content/themes. Upload your theme folder here.
Step 3: Activate your theme. Head back to your browser and open your admin interface. Navigate to Appearance -> Themes. Here you’ll find your just uploaded theme. Click on the Activate link to activate your new theme.
Others about theme installation
If you managed to follow the above steps, then congratulations! You now have a now look for your site! If you’re still in trouble here are a few others describing different ways to add a theme:
- Themelab: how to install a Wordpress theme – Themelab has an, as always, great tutorial on how to manually install a theme.
- Tutorialblog – Tutorialblog has an article on how to install Wordpress themes through the CPanel admin interface. You can install themes like this on Bluehost for instance, but many other hosts use CPanel as well.
- Wordpresstraining.com – Kirk from Wordpress Training has put together a video describing how to do the above.
- Wordpress.org codex – The official codex has a good, albeit a bit technical, section on how to use and install themes.
