How to Install a WordPress Theme – 3 Easy Ways

The theme determines the look and style of any website. The more elegant the theme, the more attractive your site looks. So it is important to have an interactive, simple yet unique theme to attract the user to your website. By default, WordPress has a whole bunch of themes for all kinds of subjects, features, and layouts to choose from. Once the theme is selected, it is very much simple to install and customize the theme on your WordPress. If you are new to WordPress, here is the complete guide on how to install WordPress themes in all possible ways.

Things to Note before Activating a Theme

Before selecting a theme make sure it perfectly suits your site permanently. Saying it permanently, not because it cannot be changed but it may not blend well with the one you choose next and may result in some serious troubles for the site. Also, make sure it works fine with all the plugins and add-ons that you use on your WordPress site. Alternatively, you can create a child theme and test what you need to figure out before you proceed with your new theme.

Ways to Install WordPress Theme

To install a theme in WordPress, there are three possible ways to make it done and they are

1. Using WordPress Theme
2. Upload Custom Theme
3. Install Theme using FTP

#1 Install Theme from WordPress Themes

This method shows you how to install themes available in WordPress Admin Theme Search.

Install Theme

[1] From your WordPress Dashboard, go to Appearance.

[2] Choose Theme and click on Add New.

[3] Under Add Theme, you can choose any of the available themes.

[4] If you are more specific on your theme selection, then you can use Feature Filter to filtrate among the themes.

[5] Once the theme is selected, click on Install to add the theme.

[6] After installation, you will be shown a success message above the theme tab.

[7] Click on Activate to activate the theme for your WordPress site.

[8] You can also click on Live Preview to preview the theme.

Customize Theme

[9] Once the theme is installed and activated, get back to the home screen.

[10] Select Appearance from the left panel and choose the Theme installed.

[11] Click on Customize to start the customization.

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#2 Upload Custom Theme to WordPress

Using this method you can download and upload the theme manually as a zip file on your WordPress site.

Upload and Activate Theme

[1] Choose Appearance from the WordPress Dashboard.

[2] Choose Theme and click on Add New from the top or Add New Theme.

[3] Click on Upload Theme >> Choose File and locate the Theme you have downloaded externally.

Note: There are several commercial theme sites available online like Envato, Themeforest, localhost, etc. where you can download WordPress themes as a Zip file.

[4] Once the file is selected, click on Install Now.

[5] After installation, you will be shown with a successfully installed message.

[6] Below the success message, click on Activate to activate the theme.

[7] You can also preview the theme before activation by clicking on Preview.

Customize Theme

[9] Once the theme is installed and activated, get back to the home screen.

[10] Select Appearance from the left panel and choose the Theme installed.

[11] Click on Customize to start the customization.

Note: Some manually uploaded themes don’t have the option to customize themes on WordPress and some have even more additional settings than the official WordPress theme

#3 Install Theme using FTP

If you are an advanced WordPress user, then you can install a WordPress theme through your site FTP. If you are a beginner, you should prefer any other above mentioned method.

[1] Download the Theme zip file on your PC.

[2] Unzip the theme file downloaded to a folder.

[3] Launch your FTP client and connect to the site you wish to add or change the theme.

[4] Go to /(root directory)/web/content/wp-content/themes, here you will see a bunch of folders or themes that you already possess.

Note: Site name is your Root directory

[5] Upload the unzipped theme folder in the FTP folder.

[6] Now go to Appearance on your Dashboard and choose Theme.

[7] Click on Activate to apply the theme to your site.

[8] You can customize the theme from the Appearance if available.

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Conclusion

It is important for the site to have an eye-catchy theme to attract and engage its users. You can choose any of the above-mentioned methods to install the themes on your WordPress site. But we personally prefer choosing and adding a theme from WordPress themes to be the best option. If you have any queries or issues on installing themes on your WordPress site, let us know in the comments section below. For more WordPress articles, explore our blog.