How to Install and Activate a Theme in WordPress

Themes

A theme is a collection of files that work together to generate the appearance and behavior of a WordPress website.

The purpose of themes is to separate data from presentation. Switch from one theme to another theme and your website will look different but with the same data.

Installation

A theme package consists of PHP and CSS files. Optionally it can include JS files and assets such as images and icons, among others. Installing a theme means placing its files in a specific location inside the WordPress directory, normally in the wp-content/themes folder.

We can install multiple themes, but only one theme can be active at a time. The active theme determines the layouts, colors, fonts, etc. used to present the data stored in WordPress.

Automatic installation

This is the easiest method to install a theme in WordPress. The only drawback is that it is limited to themes listed in the WordPress Theme Directory, which only contains free themes.

Step 1: Navigate to Appearance and click Add New.

Step 2: Browse the catalog of themes. Switch tabs or type a criterion in the search box to find themes easily.

Step 3: Click the Install button in the desired theme. After a few seconds, the Install button will change into the Activate button.

Step 4: Click the Activate button.

Installation via WordPress upload

This is the best way to install themes not listed in the WordPress Theme Directory, like paid themes. Note that you can use it to install free themes too.

Step 1: Navigate to Appearance and click Add New.

Step 2: Click Upload Theme.

Step 3: Click Browse and use the window just opened to select a theme file stored on your computer. Themes are always packaged as ZIP files.

Step 4: Click Install Now. WordPress will take a few seconds to process the upload.

Step 5: Once the upload is complete, WordPress will display a screen like the one below. Click Activate.

Installation via FTP upload

In some cases, the hosting provider puts in place restrictions that prevent themes from being installed using the WordPress admin area. The solution in these cases is to upload the theme manually using FTP or cPanel.

Step 1: Use FTP or cPanel to upload the theme ZIP file to the themes directory. This directory is normally at wp-content/themes inside the WordPress root directory.

Step 2: Decompress the ZIP file. A folder containing all files of the theme will be created. Delete the ZIP file.

Step 3: Navigate to Appearance, look for the theme just uploaded, and click Activate.

Inspection

After activating a theme, navigate through the website to verify that it looks fine and works correctly. Most themes come with configuration options. Take a look at these options to adjust the website according to your needs.