Upload A WordPress Theme – How To Install WordPress Themes – FTP WordPress Themes

This is a step by step tutorial about ‘how to upload a wordpress theme for your blog‘.

Lets start the current tutorial…


WordPress Admin Area
 
  • Go to your browser and enter your new domain name followed by /wp-admin. This will take you to the administration panel of the site. In my case I go to http://www.bestandcheapwebhosting.com/wp-admin
  • Enter your ‘Username’ and ‘Password’. This is the username and password you entered under ‘Admin Access Data’ when installing wordpress.
  • Click ‘Login’.

upload a wordpress theme image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
After the login the next screen snaphsot is shown below. At this stage we don’t have a theme – basically nothing…Its all blank.

wordpress theme image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
 
 
Selecting A WordPress Theme To Install
 
  • The next step is to install a wordpress theme. There are hundreds and hundreds of free wordpress themes that you can pick from.
  • Click ‘Presentation’.

how to install wordpress themes image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
The Presentation screen (click above image if you want to have a look at the snapshot) comes with some default wordpress themes. I personally am not a big fan of the two default themes. I prefer to pick a theme from the free wordpress themes directory. To do this scroll further down and click ‘WordPress theme directory’.

ftp wordpress templates image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
On the screen that follows you can do one of the following:

  • Use the ‘Search’ box to search for a wordpress theme. This is helpful if you already know the name of the free wordpress theme you are searching for.
  • Use the search/filter options on the left hand side of the page to narrow your search.
  • Alternatively go to the bottom of the page and click ‘Browse all themes’.

For this exercise I am going to click ‘Browse all themes’.

install wordpress themes image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
  • You are now presented with many many themes…Browse through them…Click ‘Test Run’ (below every theme) to get an idea of how the theme looks.
  • Once you have decided on a theme click ‘Download’. I have selected ‘the-glass-people’ theme. You can select whatever you prefer. Irrespective of whatever wordpress theme you pick, you can still follow the rest of the steps in this article.

theme wordpress alt click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
  • Once you click Download you presented with a dialog (to save or open dialog).
  • Make sure ‘Save to Disk’ is selected.
  • Click ‘Ok’.
  • And save the zip file somewhere in your computer.

ftp wordpress themes image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
 
 
Free FTP Program
 
The next step is to upload the wordpress theme that we just downloaded to the host of your website. In my case my hosting company is hostmonster. So I have to upload my free wordpress theme (glass-people) to the hosting server. The files have to be transferred to a hosting server through a protocol called FTP (File Transfer Protocol). And to do this we need a third party FTP program.The third party FTP program that I have been using for all my websites for the past 5 years is ‘Core FTP’. I love it. Its easy to use. I have never had any problems with it. And most of all Core FTP is free.Here is the link to download the the third party FTP program – Core FTPDownload and install the free program. If you however have a different FTP program thats fine too. Basically the aim is to transfer our theme files (and other files later on) to the hosting server.
Open your third party FTP program (in my case its Core FTP) and enter the following details.

  • Site Name: Enter a brief name – (I have entered ‘bestandcheapwebhosting’)
  • Host / IP / URL: This is the syntax – ‘domainname.your main domain in hostmonster.com’. Lets assume my main domain name is xyz. So I have entered bestandcheapwebhosting.xyz.com
  • User Name: This is the syntax – ‘domainname@your main domain in hostmonster.com’. In my case its bestandcheapwebhosting@xyz.com (where xyz is my main domain name).
  • Password: Enter the password that you entered in the ‘admin access data’ when installign wordpress for your site (on hostmonster).
  • Click ‘Connect’

fast ftp upload program click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
This should connect you to the hosting server for your website. Notice how on the FTP program you can view the directory structure of your website.

ftp explorer image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
 
 
FTP WordPress Theme
 
  • Now have unzip the wordpress theme you downloaded earlier and keep it ready for upload to the hosting server.
  • On the left hand side of the Core FTP program you can view the directory structure of your computer. Navigate to the directory where you have the unzipped files for your wordpress theme.
  • On the right hand side of the Core FTP program you can view the directory structure of the server. Navigate to ‘/wp-content/themes/’.
  • Point to the unzipped version of theme on your computer and click the arrows to move these files to /wp-content/themes/ on the server.

ftp wordpress theme image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
The image below will show you how the server directory structure will change once you upload the wordpress theme files.

ftp theme wordpress image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
  • Now go back to your website’s administration panel. In my case its http://bestandcheapwebhosting.com/wp-admin…
  • Click ‘Presentation’.
  • You should be able to see the newly upload wordpress theme here…
  • Click on that and now that becomes your website’s theme.

wordpress page templates image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
 
 
Now type in the address of your website and you will now see the new theme installed for the site.That’s it you have successfully installed a wordpress theme for your website. You can now start blogging.

wordpress upload theme image click on the image for an enlarged version of the image
 
 
 
 
 

Domain Name Registration And Hosting A Web Site Tutorials
To read the tutorial about how to purchase domain name click – .com Domain Registration
To read the tutorial about how to transfer a domain name to web host click – How To Transfer A Domain Name To Web Host
To read the tutorial about web hosting solution provider review click – Affordable Web Site Hosting Services


Wordpress Tutorials
To read the tutorial about installing wordpress for your blog – WordPress Installation For Your Blog
To read the tutorial about understanding wordpress admin panel and start blogging click – Understand WordPress Admin Panel


Entry Filed under: How To Install A Wordpress Theme

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