How to Add a Downloaded Theme in WordPress

WordPress is an incredibly flexible platform that allows you to create websites for a range of purposes, including blogs, e-commerce, and business websites. The platform provides a range of pre-built themes to choose from, making it easy for users to create their website’s look and feel without spending time building one from scratch. However, sometimes these pre-built themes may not suffice. In such cases, users can download custom or premium themes to their WordPress site. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to add a downloaded theme in WordPress.

Step 1: Download from a Trusted Marketplace

Before downloading any theme, you need to ensure that you are downloading it from a trusted marketplace. WordPress.org is trustworthy, but there are other places to get themes such as ThemeForest, Elegant Themes, and StudioPress. Once the theme is identified, proceed to download it.

Step 2: Access Your WordPress Dashboard

Log in to your WordPress site and access the dashboard. To get there, add ‘/wp-admin’ after your website’s URL. If your site’s URL is www.mysite.com, the login page will be www.mysite.com/wp-admin. Enter your login credentials to access the WordPress dashboard.

Step 3: Upload the Theme

In the WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme. Choose the downloaded theme from your computer or select the downloaded zip file and hit the ‘Install Now’ button. Once the installation is complete, click on the ‘Activate’ button to activate the new WordPress theme.

Step 4: Preview and Customize Your Theme

After uploading the theme, preview it by clicking on the Live Preview button. This step allows you to view how your site would look like on different devices before committing to it. If you’re satisfied with the preview, click on the Activate button to set the theme live. Customize the theme by going to Appearance > Customize. Here, you can change the colors, add a logo, change the layout, and create menus among other options.

Step 5: Test the Site

Before launching your site, test it thoroughly to ensure everything is working correctly. Ensure the site functions appropriately on various devices, and make necessary changes to ensure the site is responsive.

Conclusion

Adding a downloaded theme to WordPress is an easy process. Before downloading a theme, ensure it is trustworthy and follows the WordPress coding standards. Uploading and customizing is straightforward and doesn’t require any coding skills. Test the site thoroughly before launching it to the market.