If you’re new to WordPress, one of your first questions might be to ask, “What exactly is a theme, and do I need to use one?” The short answer is that a theme is the background, or “skin,” of your website. And yes, you will most definitely want to use a theme to make your website stand out from your competitors.
Controlling Your Website’s Look, and More
WordPress themes are actually a little more complicated than just managing the look and presentation of content on your website. The theme is a collection of files (called template files), which work together to produce the design for your WordPress website or blog. Essentially, the theme controls the way your website is displayed, without making any changes to the underlying software.
What’s In a Theme?
So, exactly what types of template files are included in a theme? This can vary somewhat among different themes, but in most cases, the theme is comprised of style sheets (*.css), code files (*.php), and image files (*.jpg, *.gif).
How Do I Find My Theme?
To find a new theme for your website, there are practically endless options available. A quick Google search for “WordPress themes” returns thousands and thousands of results. There is a directory of themes available for download from WordPress.org, as well as other sites that host a repository of WordPress themes, most of which are free to download.
There are also many Web developers who will design a custom theme for your WordPress weblog for a small fee. This might be beneficial if you want to ensure that your business’s website is truly one-of-a-kind.
I’ve Got My Theme, Now How Do I Install It?
The WordPress theme will generally be packaged in an archive file (.zip or .gz). The old way to install WordPress Themes was to download the theme archive to your local machine, extract the files, and then upload them to your /wp-content/themes directory using and FTP client program. (Often the theme designer will include a file with a name such as “readme.txt” to give any further instructions that might be necessary.)
Now with WordPress 2.8, you can easily find and install themes without having to download them or use FTP. See this video How To Install a WordPress Theme in WP 2.8 to see this new feature in action.
Once your theme has been installed, choose “Appearance” on the left-hand column, of your WordPress Dashboard. This will bring you to the “Manage Themes” page. Here you will see all of the WordPress themes that you have uploaded. Simply click on the theme that you wish to use, and voila! Your website’s new theme has been installed. You can leave it as is, or customize it by going to Appearance > Editor.
Do you need hosting for your WordPress site? BlueHost is a great way to go. Easy WordPress installs, 24/7 U.S. based support, and a Free domain name are just a few reasons why. Just $6.95/month Find out more…
See my Using WordPress series for more tutorials on how to use WordPress!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I’m working on my small business web site and hope someone can tell me how to layer pages so that I can create categories of the products I’m selling.
Is there an ideal size for uploading photos? Mine aren’t showing in their entirety.
Also, is there an easy way to create the pages in color, rather than white?
So grateful for some guidance.