WordPress is one of the easiest blogging platforms to use today, thanks to its simplicity in design and its many features. The millions of themes available for WordPress users make it more fun. The plugins and the widgets are additional advantages. You can even have a custom-made theme for your site. It is easy to activate a WordPress in-built theme like TwentyTen and TwentyTwelve but it challenges some people to install a theme downloaded from another site. However, it is simple to install WordPress theme manually irrespective of where you downloaded it from.
After introducing how to install a WordPress plugin, we developed this article to teach readers how to install a WordPress thems. See how below.
Benefits of Installing a WordPress Theme
Themes are what make different sites distinct. They make the WordPress sites look elegant, enthralling, and different from the other in the market. A WordPress theme is easy to install and thus should be a priority for every site owner online to get a theme. Most importantly is the custom-made WordPress theme. It enables site owners to have a look that defines their taste on their site.
Now, learn how to install a WordPress manually and using FTP.
Installing WordPress Theme Manually
If you want to install WordPress theme from another site, it is as simple as uploading the theme to your WordPress site. Let say, you have a theme archive on your computer, and the configuration of the Webserver supports it, you will only need to upload it and WordPress will finalize the process.
Go to your WordPress Dashboard and select Appearance >> Themes menu. This leads you to a screen where you will upload the theme. Click the button at the top, Install Themes button and then click on the Upload link just below the Install Themes button.
Browse the theme file from your computer and click it to upload. Its name will be shown on the input field, and you can always browse another in case of a wrong upload. Click “Install Now” and WordPress will try installing your theme.
The above automatic installment may fail. This only means that the theme you are trying to upload is not in the WordPress directory, and an alternative means of uploading will be necessary. You need to know some details about your server including their server address or domain name, the server username, password and the location of your WordPress installation in the server account. This is mostly found in the public_html folder or a folder inside the public_html folder.
Here, you need an FTP client (In this case we are going to use FileZilla, which is a free program and one of the best FTP clients). Download the theme of your choice or use the theme that failed to upload. For instance, you can be using Mantra theme. Save the theme in the theme archive in your computer and follow the steps below to install it.
How to Install WordPress Theme Using FTP Client
Extract the theme archive to your computer. After extracting, you will get a folder with the name of the theme that has many files and folders inside it. Ensure there is a style.css and functions.php files.
Connect to your server account using an FTP client (FileZilla in this case). This directs you to a screen with two panes. Navigate in the extracted folder in the left pane and WordPress installation on the right pane. Select wp-admin and wp-content in the latter. If you have already located this, navigate in wp-content/themes and right click on the theme_name folder. Select Upload from the menu that appears.
Once the upload is complete, a new folder will be seen nest to the default twentytwelve and twentyeleven theme folders.
Open your WordPress site and navigate through Appearance >> Themes. The Mantra theme uploaded will be displayed among the list of themes. Click “Activate” and the theme will be enabled.
