How to install the WordPress Theme

Let's refer to the interesting work of installing the theme through three ways that is to install a free theme through the WordPress.Org theme library, install by uploading the theme package in the Dashboard and the last way is to copy the theme folder to the / wp-content/themes/ on the localhost or host that hosts your WordPress website.

Find and install theme from gallery

If you are new to WordPress, I recommend that you only install the free themes available in the WordPress.Org library to understand how to use and set up a theme because the themes there are mostly easy to use. WordPress standards and especially safe – does not contain malicious code.

To install a new theme for WordPress, go to Appearance -> Themes and click Add New.

After finding a theme you like, click on it to view information and preview the theme. Please note that this preview feature only has a symbolic meaning, but sometimes it will not accurately and fully display the features contained in that theme.

If you are satisfied, press the Install button to install.

And click the Activate button to activate it, but after installing it, it is only located on the /wp-content/themes folder, but has not been activated.

Once activated, go to Appearance -> Menus to set up menus and Apperance -> Widgets to add a few widgets to the sidebar for the best display of the theme. At the same time, many themes will have their own custom area item displayed on the menu on the left hand side of the Dashboard, which we often call Theme Options, if there is, then visit there to customize.

Install the theme by uploading from your computer to the website

Assuming you have a theme on your computer, compress it into a .zip file. Note that you must compress the folder of that theme, not the folder nested in it.

For example, when unzipping, your theme must have the structure /name-theme/style.css((File style.css is always located in the root directory of the theme)) is it correct if you unzip it. which is /folder-name/theme-name/style.css is wrong, and you must compress it into .zip format, other extensions like.rar, .tar are wrong.

After having the .zip archive of the theme, go to Appearance -> Themes -> Add New -> Upload Theme.

Then you upload the .zip file of the theme and activate it as usual. If it gives an error of missingstyle.css, it's because you compressed with the wrong structure, please extract it and compress it properly as I said above.

Install the theme by uploading directly to host/localhost

This method is used to do when you are limited in upload size because the theme is too heavy, that is to unzip and upload the theme folder to the /wp-content/themes/ directory, remember that the theme directory must also have the form / name-theme/style.css and not /folder-name/theme-name/style.css.

After the upload is complete, go to Appearance -> Themes and activate it because the theme you just uploaded is already displayed in it.

When you see a demo (preview) of a theme, it does not mean that you install it and it displays exactly the same. You must know, each theme has a different installation method and to be like the demo you also have to customize a lot (through the available options). Therefore, you should practice installing free themes in the library because there are many themes that are also quite difficult to install, so it is your best practice source, gradually you will feel that installing a theme like a demo is not too difficult.

OK, you already know how to change the look and feel of your website by learning how to install a new theme on your website through many different ways.