We’ve already talked about How To Choose a WordPress Theme for your site. Now it’s time to install your chosen theme and activate it. Installing a WordPress Theme is quite easy, which is one of the reasons there are so many WordPress themes around. If you have chosen a theme based on the Parent/Child Theme framework, you’ll have to follow an additional step in the installation process, but that hardly takes any time. Without further ado, here is how to get started with installing your WordPress theme of choice.
Download Your Chosen WordPress Theme
Most WordPress themes come as zip files. There’s no need to unzip them because WordPress can read them as they are. Parent/Child Themes include two separate files, a Parent Theme and a Child Theme. Developers of Parent/Child Themes may bundle them together in the same package. Often, however, you will have to download them separately, perhaps even from different websites. If you’ve chosen a Parent/Child Theme, make sure you have downloaded both files on your computer.
Upload the Theme to Your WordPress Site
Whether you choose a simple theme or a theme that uses the Parent and Child framework, the basic upload process is the same. After logging into your WordPress Dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes and click on Add New.
Click on the Upload Theme at the top of the page and then browse for the theme files on your computer. If you plan to install a Parent/Child Theme, you have to upload and install first the parent theme, in our case Omega.
After the theme file has been uploaded, click on the Install Now button. Wait for your chosen theme to install. This usually takes less than a minute, but it may take longer depending on the theme file size and the speed of your Internet connection.
Once your (Parent) theme has been installed, you can preview it, using the handy Live Preview feature, to see how it looks on your site. If your blog is already live, you may want to use Live Preview first, to make sure your theme displays your content properly.
Click Activate to change your theme.
Upload Your WordPress Child Theme
This step is only necessary if you’ve chosen a Parent/Child Theme. Proceed with it only after you’ve installed a Parent Theme. In your Dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes. Click again on the Add New Upload button and then choose to Upload Theme. Upload and install the file for your Child theme, using the same process described above. If your Child Theme is compatible with your Parent Theme and comes in the right format, it should install in a matter of seconds without any issues. You can then preview it to see it in action. In our case, we decided to stick with Omega.
Activating Themes
In the Appearance > Themes page, WordPress shows you all the themes you have installed so far, and enables you to quickly activate them.
Finding and Installing Themes Straight From the Themes Tab
If you want to use one of the many themes that WordPress makes available for free, you can use the Search Bar and the Feature Filter in the Appearance > Themes Tab to find a nice free theme.
Alternatively, you can use the Featured, Popular, and Latest categories to browse through some of the best or most recent themes available.
Check Your WordPress Theme
After you’ve installed and activated a theme, you may want to use the helpful Theme Check plugin by going to Appearance and clicking on Theme Check. This plugin evaluates your theme using the latest theme review standards to make sure it won’t cause your users any inconveniences. It’s a quick and effective way to test themes before activating them.
Conclusion
As you can see, installing a new theme in WordPress is a very straightforward process that makes it easy for you to test out different themes before deciding which one to use for your site, as well as to regularly change your blog theme to keep the design fresh. After you’ve installed your desired theme, you can use the theme customization features built into the WordPress admin dashboard to customize the Header, Background, Menus, Widgets, Colors, Fonts, and any other style and layout options the theme may support. Some themes have more customization options than others, and it is of course possible to manually customize a theme, or to have a professional theme designer do it for you before you upload it to WordPress. But that is another guide for another time.
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