WordPress is the most widely-used Content Direction Organization in the world for building self-hosted websites. Chances are if yous're not already, y'all've decided to use WordPress for your own website. Simply exercise you know how to install a WordPress theme?

Understanding how WordPress themes are added to your website is not complicated at all, no affair which method you choose to apply — and there are a few! The great matter is, once your theme is installed, you lot're ready to showtime creating a standout website right away.

In today's post, we'll dig deeper into how to install a WordPress theme. Specifically, we'll embrace:

Permit's get started!

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Where to Find WordPress Themes (Both Costless and Paid)

Learning how to install a WordPress theme on your website isn't hard to practise. What is difficult, though, is choosing the right theme for your needs. Only before we look at what you need to successfully reach that, permit'southward accept a quick await at where you can find WordPress themes.

Right now, the WordPress Repository is one of the most common places to find reliable and costless plugins and themes to extend the blueprint and functionality of your WordPress website. In fact, there are over 7,400 themes in the WordPress Repository alone.

Adding to that, in that location are besides thousands of free and premium themes available for WordPress users that tin can be found in marketplaces such as MOJO Market, CSS Igniter, and StudioPress. That said, the most famous theme market to date is Themeforest, which currently has over 46,000 WordPress themes to cull from.

How to Choose the Correct WordPress Theme

So, how are y'all supposed to know which WordPress theme is right for you lot?

Hither are some tips to help:

1. Decide Between a Gratuitous or Premium WordPress Theme

The free vs paid WordPress theme debate has been around for a long fourth dimension. This makes it tough to know whether you should relieve your coin and go for a complimentary theme or invest a pocket-size corporeality of money for a premium ane and reap the benefits. If y'all come across a WordPress site with a theme that you like, yous tin utilize our theme detector tool to find out what theme it uses.

It really does come up downwards to your budget, at that place are some things to consider before making a concluding choice:

Pros of Using a Costless WordPress Theme

Using a free WordPress theme comes with plenty of advantages:

  • They're free to use, which means if you end up non liking it and desire to change your WordPress theme, you've lost no money for giving information technology a endeavor.
  • The free themes in the WordPress Repository are officially canonical after going through a strict review process.
  • Gratuitous themes institute at WordPress.org will be compatible with all the free plugins plant in the aforementioned identify.

That said, complimentary themes exercise come up with some disadvantages too.

For example, they typically take a express feature set up, are used past many people (making information technology hard to create a unique website), and in that location's unremarkably little to no prompt support if at that place are issues. Not to mention, free themes found outside the WordPress Repository may be poorly coded, which opens your site upwardly to vulnerabilities and attacks.

Pros of Using a Premium WordPress Theme

Just like using a gratis theme, premium themes come up with their own set of benefits:

  • Y'all get support for it to help you with things similar bugs, technical problems, and customization (suggested reading: How to Customize Your WordPress Theme).
  • You'll receive frequent updates, which come with increased security and features.
  • The feature sets range from mild to wild, so you tin design your site to look and do whatever you desire.
  • If from a trusted theme market, company, or programmer, yous'll know your premium theme is up-to-date with all the latest versions of WordPress, HTML, CSS, and PHP.

Premium themes practice, however, cost coin. Some paid themes require a yearly payment, and others require a one-time payment. This means if you lot buy one, and afterward decide to modify, yous're out whatsoever money was spent.

ii. Know Your Niche

WordPress caters to all kinds of websites, so you can expect WordPress themes to do the aforementioned. Knowing your niche earlier y'all determine on a theme will help you find WordPress themes that will accept the design and functionality y'all demand.

For example, if y'all're starting a WordPress food blog, you'll want to be on the lookout for a WordPress blogging theme that caters to food websites. Ameliorate yet, if yous retrieve you might want to sell products and services to fellow foodies similar yourself, you might desire to check out some ecommerce themes that come with the functionality to start both an online nutrient business concern and web log.

To make a good conclusion, think most the type of content you lot want to publish, central features your theme will need, your target audience, and what manufacture yous want to exist in, then y'all tin can narrow your options and make deciding a trivial easier.

three. Use Apparent Sources

Anyone that can develop a WordPress theme and make a profit off it, will. But the thing is, just because someone has created a WordPress theme doesn't mean it's free from bad code, viruses, or even spam links.

If you've decided to use a free WordPress theme, the best place to wait is the WordPress Repository. If you need a premium theme or want to apply a free one from a 3rd-party theme company, bank check for the following:

  • Author reputation
  • Frequency of updates
  • Positive client reviews
  • Number of sales

In the cease, it doesn't matter what type of WordPress theme yous need. What really matters is that y'all avoid using nulled WordPress themes, so you don't have problems in the futurity with site security, downtime, and lost site visitors.

4. Keep It Elementary

It's easy to become caught upward in the entreatment of popular multipurpose WordPress themes such every bit Avada or X. And while these themes may accept the features and design some people demand, the truth is, elementary is frequently better.

This is especially true for those only starting out. Sometimes multipurpose themes come with too many features, have a loftier learning curve, and affect your site'southward speed and functioning.

It's best to use a theme that has just what yous need and cypher more.

v. Look for Responsive Design

Non to be confused with mobile-friendly blueprint, responsive design is necessary for giving your mobile site visitors exceptional user experience.

Having a mobile-friendly WordPress theme ways that no matter what device your site visitor accesses your website from, it will appear the aforementioned. The site visitor will be able to run across all your site's content, navigate the site hands, and click the CTA buttons y'all want them to. That said, none of the elements on your website will change, no matter the device or screen size accessing your site.

To check for mobile-friendliness, apply Google's Mobile-Friendly test.

Google mobile-friendly test
Google mobile-friendly test

On the other manus, having a WordPress theme with responsive design ways that when your site visitors click on your website using a mobile device, your website will adapt according to the screen size. Elements on your website volition change to render seamlessly for site visitors and so they can admission your site content with ease.

To check for responsive blueprint, use the free Responsive Checker tool:

Responsive Checker tool
Responsive Checker

The peachy thing about this online tool is that yous can evaluate your website using multiple device types, including laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. In improver, you can navigate the site as if you were really accessing it using a mobile device to brand certain your site looks and functions the fashion yous desire it to for site visitors.

half dozen. Evaluate the Theme Support

At that place may come a fourth dimension when you lot need back up while using your WordPress theme. That's why being able to go far touch with the theme developer or their back up team is crucial.

Notice out what kind of back up is offered before deciding on a WordPress theme. And remember, nearly free WordPress themes come with very little back up, if any at all.

7. Consider the Features

Lastly, you lot should definitely consider the features your WordPress theme comes with. Here are some of the best things to look for in whatsoever theme you choose, whether information technology's free or premium:

  • Social media sharing
  • Built-in SEO optimization
  • Cantankerous-browser compatibility
  • Inclusive WordPress page builders for easier site creation
  • Pop WordPress plugin compatibility
  • Multilingual and translation gear up
  • Ecommerce back up

Of course, every person needs dissimilar things for their website. However, the above-mentioned considerations will help point you in the correct direction and help y'all make a decision.

Now, let'southward accept a look at how to install a WordPress theme onto your website afterwards you've chosen the perfect one.

How to Install a Free WordPress Theme

If yous desire to use a theme found in the WordPress Repository on your website, the easiest way to do this is on the backend of your website.

Subscribe Now

To get-go, log into your WordPress website and become to Advent > Themes in the WordPress dashboard and click Add New.

How to install a new WordPress theme
Adding a new WordPress theme

From there, you lot can filter the results based on:

  • Featured
  • Pop
  • Latest
  • Favorites
Filter theme results
Filter theme results

Or, you tin can apply the Feature Filter button to filter the theme results based on specific features.

Feature filter
Feature filter

Lastly, you can search for a specific WordPress theme if yous know the name of information technology past entering the theme's proper noun into the search bar:

Searching for a specific WordPress theme in WordPress

Once you observe a theme you might desire to use, you can click Details and Preview to meet more information about the theme, Preview to see a preview of the theme in action, or Install to install the theme onto your WordPress site:

Preview or install a WordPress theme
Preview or install a WordPress theme

When you decide yous desire to use a theme plant in the WordPress Repository, click Install.

Then, click on Live Preview first to come across how your site volition look using the theme. This makes it easier to decide if the theme you're interested in is the 1 for you lot or non. When y'all've fabricated the conclusion, click Activate to stop adding it to your website.

Your WordPress theme is now installed on your website and you can start publishing content right abroad.

How to Install a Premium WordPress Theme

If you've purchased a premium WordPress theme, you'll need to use the upload method from your WordPress dashboard to install your theme.

To showtime, download the theme you lot purchased from the theme marketplace or visitor you bought it from. Salve the downloaded nix file to your computer.

Adjacent, log into your WordPress website and go to Appearance > Themes in the WordPress dashboard and click Add New:

How to install a new WordPress theme
Calculation a new WordPress theme

Side by side, click Upload Theme to upload the zip file of your premium WordPress theme to your website from your computer:

Upload theme feature in WordPress
Upload theme feature in WordPress

Click Browse to select the zip file from your computer.

Upload your zip file
Upload your zip file

And then, click Install Now to add the theme to your website.

Install a premium WordPress theme
Install a premium WordPress theme

WordPress will install your premium theme on your website. If you desire to see how your website volition await using the uploaded theme, click Live Preview.

Lastly, click Activate to make the theme set up to become on your website.

The upload method will work for any premium WordPress theme you take saved as a zip file. It will besides piece of work when yous demand to import a theme from ThemeForest. Just download the zip file that'due south saved on your estimator and follow the same steps higher up.

How to Install a WordPress Theme Using FTP

The last method we're going to show you is using FTP (file transfer protocol), which is the standard network protocol used for transferring computer files between a client and server on a reckoner network. In other words, an FTP helps you upload files between you and your website's servers.

There are several FTP clients you can utilise, but we're going to use FileZilla, which is hands downloaded on your computer. Information technology'south costless to apply and has a simple interface. Keep in mind, however, this is an advanced style of installing a WordPress theme on your website and is non recommended for beginners.

Step 1: Secure FTP/SFTP Credentials

To get started, yous'll need to get your FTP or SFTP credentials to enter into FileZilla and then it tin can connect to your site's servers (learn the difference betwixt FTP and SFTP). This information is ordinarily found in your spider web hosting account. If y'all have trouble finding it, achieve out to your host and have them help yous.

If you utilize Kinsta hosting, first log into your MyKinsta account and click on Sites in the dashboard then on the Info to get the credentials needed:

When you do this, y'all should see your credentials nether SFTP/SSH. You'll demand your username, countersign, and port:

Footstep 2: Enter Credentials into FileZilla

After y'all've establish your FTP/SFTP credentials, open up up FileZilla.

Hither is the information yous're going to need to enter:

  • Host: from your MyKinsta dashboard (or your site's IP address preceded by "sftp://" for other hosting providers)
  • Username: from your MyKinsta dashboard
  • Password: from your MyKinsta dashboard
  • Port: from your MyKinsta dashboard

This is what information technology will look like at the top of the FileZilla screen:

Using SFTP in FileZilla
Using SFTP in FileZilla

After y'all've entered your credentials, click Quickconnect. FileZilla will then connect to your site's servers.

Step 3: Upload WordPress Theme Files

After y'all're connected to your FTP, information technology's time to install a WordPress theme on your website. Proceed in mind that the left side of FileZilla is how you'll access your calculator files, and the right side of FileZilla is how you'll admission your site's files that are stored on your host's servers.

To open upwardly your site's files, click on the folders in the right-side panel until you lot notice the one labeled Themes:

WordPress themes folder
WordPress themes folder

When you do, any WordPress themes already installed on your website will announced underneath the file folders.

Side by side, go to the left-side panel in FileZilla and search for the zip file of the WordPress theme you want to install. When you find it, right-click on it and select Upload:

Uploading WordPress theme via FTP
Uploading WordPress theme via FTP

When the files are done uploading to your site'south servers (this may take a while depending on the size of the file), you'll see the files on the right-side console in FileZilla.

files uploading to a site's servers in FileZilla

Lastly, log into your WordPress website and get to Appearance > Themes. You'll notice your newly uploaded theme is right in that location, waiting for you to activate and use on your website.

Appearance, Themes in WordPress

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Summary

If you're going to apply WordPress every bit your Content Management System, you lot're going to need to know how to install a WordPress theme. And chances are, you'll go through a few WordPress themes until you find the one you similar and has everything yous demand.

Luckily for you, there are not just several methods to choose from for installing WordPress themes, but all‌ ‌of‌ ‌them‌ ‌are also relatively easy, fifty-fifty for novice website owners:

  1. You tin install a theme through the Appearance>Themes > Add New option directly from within WordPress.
  2. You can install a theme by uploading it equally a zip file via the Upload Theme feature.
  3. You lot can install a theme Using an FTP client.

So, perform a little enquiry and observe the perfect WordPress theme for your weblog, online business concern, or ecommerce shop. Then, install it on your WordPress site so yous tin can brainstorm edifice a unique website that represents your brand.


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