A Beginner’s Guide on How To Install WordPress Theme on Your Website

WordPress themes are recognized as one of the most popular CMS (content management system) template files for WordPress that allow you to curate your website’s overall look and design without coding or the complexity of web development. While we know the vast immensity of the available WordPress themes online, choosing the right one for your website can leverage a massive engagement boost and help speak your business or brand precisely. One cannot ignore the ease and debilitation of complexity provided by WordPress themes effectively. It gives you diverse avenues of themes to select from depending on the business functions and provides numerous customization features, an interactive platform, and smooth navigational functionalities at your expense. It equips you with endless options in themes to choose from with minimal complexity in the website creation. If you're wondering how to install WordPress theme, this guide will walk you through three simple methods to set up your theme effortlessly. Here is the Step-by-Step WordPress Installation Theme Guide for you to help you with WordPress theme setup and configuration along with WordPress theme troubleshooting.

How do WordPress Themes help?

Beginners often ask how to install WordPress theme, and the easiest way is through the Admin Theme Search, which allows you to browse and install themes directly from the WordPress directory. You can install WordPress using FTP also, doing that increases the accuracy of every single thing. WordPress offers a variety of features consisting of customizable pages, easily updatable plugin compatibility, efficiency, and much more. Following are the key features provided by WordPress themes that help you create the best brand profile with an appealing online presence seamlessly.

E-commerce compatibility

E-commerce plugins like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Easy Digital Downloads are compatible with WordPress themes enabling you to open a self-hosted or an integrated online store efficiently. It clears out the complexity of creating the functionalities of an online store from scratch and allows you to maintain the store using easy updates and features.

Smooth Integration with Page-builders

WordPress themes provide an easy interface using Page-builders like Elementor, SiteOrigin, Page Beaver, or Visual Composer by providing the functionalities to create custom layouts for pages and designs. The ready-to-use templates with drag-and-drop options make it easier for you to edit and update your website right away.

Browser Compatibility

WordPress themes provide hassle-free responsive website features across all devices and browsers with multiple versions where you can leverage the functionalities to have compatible versions of the website across various OS and browser combinations. This helps the user to experience appealing and presentable websites along with effective performance.

How to install WordPress themes?

Installation of WordPress themes on your dashboard can be done using multiple methods. Here is the best WordPress Installation Guide for Beginners to leverage to help you install the WordPress theme successfully.

Method 1: Install the WordPress theme using Admin Theme Search

WordPress provides you with a variety of WordPress themes to choose from the WordPress theme.org directory and allows you to choose according to your needs and functionalities. You can explore these themes over the WordPress dashboard and install the same following certain steps.

• Step 01: Log in to the WordPress Admin dashboard. Click on the “Appearance” options present on the left sidebar. Select the “Themes” page and click on the “Add New” button present on the top right corner of the page.

• Step 02: Once the new screen appears, you can click on the search bar to search for your favourite WordPress theme or you can select the theme you like through the “Popular”, “Latest” or “Favorites” options to go through the variety of themes. You can also add multiple filters to find the theme depending upon your accordance using the “Feature Filter” option which gives you the option to sort concerning Subject, Layout, or Features.

• Step 03: Once you have found the theme you would like to install, hover over the image which will show the options of “Details or Preview” and “Install” to select from along with the WordPress theme name.  Click on “Install” and the WordPress theme will be successfully installed by WordPress for you. Once the theme is installed, it will show the “Installed” message.

• Step 04: Hover over the image of the WordPress theme and click on the “Activate” button present on the right of the image button. You can also click on the “Live Preview” button to see the theme layout.
• Step 05: Once your theme is activated, you can now see your website activated with the newly installed theme.  Some Premium WordPress themes might expect you to configure additional settings concerning WordPress plugins, demo data, or review the settings. Simply follow the theme instructions to carry out the settings effectively.

You can customize your WordPress theme where you can update or edit using the “Customize” page present under the “Appearance” option.

In case you are using a block WordPress theme, simply click on the “Editor” page which will provide you with a full-site editor to edit certain page parts of the template or the template overall of the WordPress theme.

Method 2: Install the WordPress theme using the Upload method in WordPress from WordPress Admin

This method allows you to install WordPress template beyond the themes available in the WordPress directory and is provided by other firms and companies such as WP Elemento, Studio Press, and many more according to your preferred choices and the ones you like.

It also allows you to install custom themes effectively by simply uploading your theme on WordPress. Note that this method can only be carried out by WordPress.org users. It limits you if you are using WordPress.com for installing themes for your website.

• Step 01: Download the .zip file for your theme from your preferred companies that you purchased or create the same for the custom theme that needs to be uploaded.

• Step 02: Select the “Appearance” option and click on the “Themes” page. The “Theme” page will appear on your screen.

• Step 03: Click on the “Add New” button present at the top of the page. The page will provide you with the numerous free themes present or the previously installed and activated themes to select from.

• Step 04: Click on the “Choose File” button and select the .zip file of your theme that has been previously downloaded.

• Step 05: Install your theme on the “Install Now” option. Once the theme is successfully installed, the “Theme installed successfully” message will appear on the screen.

• Step 06: Click on the “Activate” option to activate your theme for the website. You can see the activated theme by visiting your website.

• Step 07: Some themes might expect you to configure some additional settings depending upon the theme you have activated for your website. Simply visit the “Appearance” option and select the “Customize” page to customize and configure additional settings and changes for your theme.

Method 3: Install the WordPress theme using FTP

If you wish to follow an advanced method to install your WordPress theme over WordPress using your understanding of the technicalities of web development, you can refer to these steps to successfully install your theme. Note that this method is not suggested for users who are beginners in web development.

• Step 01: Download the .zip file for your theme from your preferred companies that you purchased and unzip the same.

• Step 02: To upload your theme to your website, you need to connect your WordPress hosting account with the help of an FTP client.

• Step 03: Once connected, visit the “/wp-content/themes/” folder where you will find all the installed themes for your website. Upload your theme by adding the same to the /wp-content/themes/ folder using drag and drop from your computer. The theme will be successfully uploaded.

• Step 04: To activate your theme to the website, simply visit the “Appearance” option and click on the “Themes” page to see your newly uploaded theme.

• Step 05: Hover over the image of the theme and click on the “Activate” button to successfully apply your theme to the website.

How to Fix WordPress Theme Installation Issues?

While installing your desired WordPress for your website, some common issues can arise that will obstruct the process to a successful installation. These issues can be easily resolved with a few simple steps that help you install your theme.

Check out the key issues regarding WordPress Theme Installation Issues and find out their resolution efficiently.

1. The theme not displaying correctly

When the issue concerning theme layout, design, or functionality is not working as expected check for the theme’s configuration instructions and its setup. Also, ensure that all the necessary plugins are successfully activated. You can also reset your theme settings to default.

2. The theme on Compatible with the WordPress version

If you see the message mentioning “This theme is not compatible with your WordPress version”, simply update your WordPress version to the recommended version by your theme. You can also check for necessary theme requirements concerning the WordPress version and contact theme owners for any guidance or assistance.

3. The theme is not working with existing plugins

If you are facing unexpected common WordPress errors and messages that are not cooperating with your existing plugins, you can deactivate and reactivate them individually to find the plugin creating the issue. Once the conflicting plugin is identified, simply update the same to its latest version or contact the theme owner or plugin developer for further assistance.

Conclusion

What makes WordPress theme the first choice for everyone is its responsive functionalities performing seamlessly across all devices, mitigation of malicious cyber attacks online by contributing a secure database for the website, curation of SEO-friendly environment for the website with eye-pleasing visuals and interactive platform, and deliverance of excellent performance and efficient user experience.

Determining the type of website you need to establish your business identity online effectively and choosing the right WordPress theme concerning the security, performance and overall compatibility being provided to the users can work as a game changer for your website to reach a targeted audience. You can consider the features WordPress themes can contribute to you depending on your preference and needs and leverage the guide for “How to install WordPress theme” to maximize the abilities and varied range of functions to create the best website for your business. If you are a beginner and using WordPress for the first time, then you can also go for our tutorial on "how to make website with WordPress" you can get a brief detail on how to create a website on WordPress from scratch.