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Install a Theme 33
Hello! Iím MaAnna with BlogAid and in this video Iíll show you how to install a WordPress
theme from the WordPress site as well as how to activate it, set it up properly, and keep
it secure.
One of the beauties of WordPress is that you can change themes without disturbing the core
content of your site. However, different themes have different parameters, especially in the
header, sidebar, and footer. And, changing themes could alter or wipe out any content
you have in those areas. So, be sure to backup your site content, and your current theme
before proceeding with this tutorial.
If you have not done so already, visit BlogAid.net to download a free report with 14 plugins
and services for backing up your site, and make sure that you choose one that gets your
entire site, including your current theme and plugins, and not a backup that just gets
your database.
This is the Dashboard page of WordPress 3.3. And two of the new elements that come with
it, are the ability to change themes without disturbing your sidebar widgets and leaving
your custom menu structure intact. This was especially problematic in older versions because
when you changed themes you could wipe out your custom sidebar widgets entirely. With
version 3.3, theyíll be restored automatically.
First Iím going to show you how to access the themes page.
Go to the left sidebar and find the Appearance link. When you hover over it, a fly out menu
appears. You can either click the Appearance link and it will take you to the first sub-link,
or you can click the Themes sub-link.
This section has two tabs at the top. The first one is Manage Themes, which shows you
all of the themes you have installed, and the second tab is Install themes, which Iíll
show you in a moment.
Here you can see that I have two themes installed. The one listed at the top is the theme that
is currently active.
The one below is in the Available Themes section, and it is the Twenty-Eleven theme that comes
loaded with WordPress 3.3. I suggest you keep this theme available until youíre absolutely
positive that another theme will work well for you. And, even then, there is no reason
for you to delete it.
Below the description are several links to Activate, Preview, or Delete. What this means
is that you can install a new theme, and preview it with your content, before making it active.
That way, you will be the only one to see it. The public canít see it until you make
it active.
Iím going to show you how that works. Iím clicking the preview link.
That brings up a special preview window with the Twenty-Eleven theme, but it has my siteís
current content listed.
As you can see, it doesnít fit well with the custom coding on my home page. So, Iím
clicking the Blog page so you can see a typical layout.
Whatís nice about this preview is that you can check any page on your site to see how
it will appear with the new theme.
To close this window, click the x in the upper left corner.
If I like what you see on the new theme, you can click the Activate link. Letís do that.
If this is the first time youíve activated a new theme, a New Feature Pointers pop up
will appear. Itís new in the 3.3 version. And it says that if you revert back to your
previous theme, your widgets will be reinstated. Keep in mind that there may be a time limit
on how long your old widget configuration will be held.
You can see that the two themes I had installed switched places and now the Twenty-Eleven
theme shows as the current theme, which also means that the public can see it on my site
too.
Youíll also see that it displays a yellow box at the top stating that I should go configure
my widgets again, which is something youíll want to check after you decide you want to
keep a theme. Your old widget configuration may not be the best fit for the new theme.
Letís say I donít like the theme and I want to try something else. WordPress has thousands
of free themes available and Iím going to show you how to find them in a moment, but
Iím going to reinstate my old theme first.
Iím scrolling down and clicking the Activate link on my original theme.
And that restored it. When you switch themes, itís a good idea to check your site and ensure
that everything looks okay.
You can do that by simply clicking the name of your site in the shortcut admin bar at
the top.
That will take you to the home page of your site. Now since, I donít have a sidebar on
my homepage, I want to check a page that does. You can click any link in your navigation
and youíll be taken to that page.
When youíre satisfied that everything is okay, hover over the name of your site in
the shortcut bar and youíll see a sub-link for Themes, which is where we want to go.
Click the Install Themes tab at the top.
Youíll be taken to a page where you can search for themes listed in the official WordPress
repository. Theyíre all free. Now, donít confuse these with other free themes you find
with a Google search, and you want to be very careful about using any free theme. One of
the reasons folks give away nice themes for free is because theyíve hidden some code
in it that will give them access to your site and database so they can use it as a spam
portal.
You always want to use themes from a reputable site or designer. And, you always want to
keep your theme, plugins, and the WordPress software up-to-date to plug any security holes
that hackers may have found too.
Most of the ones in the official WordPress repository are fine, but you may want to get
a malware scanning plugin, just to be sure. There are several in the WordPress Plugins
repository, but I use and recommend a premium plugin called BackupBuddy that not only backs
up my entire site; it also has a malware scanner built in.
But, the caveat of all this is, that you canít run that scanner until after you install a
theme and activate it on your site.
At the top of the page youíll find several links for accessing themes. The first one
is Upload. If youíve purchased a theme and downloaded the zip file to your computer,
this is the link you would use to upload it. And be sure to upload the zipped file.
The next three links help you sort the list of themes available from WordPress. Letís
have a look at Newest.
Youíll see a page of thumbnails with descriptions. Now, these are the latest themes uploaded
to the WordPress repository as of the date this video was made. Youíre likely to see
a different set of themes when you click the link.
There will be about 12 to 15 thumbnails per page, depending on your screen size.
Iím clicking the Preview link. You can see a full screen image of the theme which will
let you inspect the text fonts and other formatting parameters. Keep in mind that when you download
a theme, it likely will not come with the image you see in the content area. The only
images that will come with it are in the background and header areas. And, this preview is with
the default content that the developer used, not your content.
Click the x in the top left to collapse the preview window.
Letís return to the Search page.
Okay, Iím going to show you some tricks for how to use this page and actually find what
youíre seeking. First, notice that there are two different Search buttons. One is at
the top next to the search field where you type in what you seek.
The second one is below the checkboxes table. Be sure you click the correct one, depending
on whether you use the field or the table, because you wonít get the correct results
otherwise.
Letís see what you can check in the boxes. The options are colors, columns, width, features,
and subject.
The more of these you click, the more it narrows the search parameters, and while thatís good,
consider this. Many themes allow you to change some of their parameters, like the background
color. So, if you narrow your search too much, you may miss seeing a site that you can customize
and would work perfectly for you.
Letís try a few. I want an Orange color scheme with a right sidebar. So, I check those boxes,
then scroll down and click the Find Themes button.
As you can see, there are only 28 themes.
Now letís return to the search page and just click Orange.
As you can see, there are now multiple pages and a total of 150 themes.
If you scroll down, youíll see that there are multiple themes that matched our criteria
of being orange with a right sidebar that did not display in the previous results. It
all depends on what the theme designer put in the description tag for the theme.
So, donít be too narrow in your search or you could miss a theme that would work perfectly
for you.
If you like this theme, you can also click the Details link to see its version and rating,
as well as how long it has been since the designer made an update.
Letís return to the Search page.
Now Iím going to show you what happens when you load in a theme that has a completely
different layout from the one you are currently using.
Iím clicking the site name so I can view the BlogAid theme.
And then going to the Blogs page.
As you can see, it has a header, a single navigation menu with my main pages,
a fairly wide content area, and a right sidebar.
Take note of what I have in my sidebar.
Now letís return to the Install Themes tab.
Iím on the Search page, and inputting blue into the Search field.
Then clicking the Search button.
Iím scrolling down to find one near the bottom titled Blue Grace.
Iím clicking the Preview link.
As you can see, it has a menu at the top for the main pages,
a secondary row of navigation for displaying posts by category,
a built-in RSS feed icon that is likely not something I can remove,
a narrow content area, a primary sidebar,
and a secondary sidebar.
Iím closing the preview window.
Now, Iím clicking the Install link.
A pop up window appears. Click the blue Install Now button.
When it finishes, youíll see three links for Preview, Activate, or Return to the Theme
Installer page.
Letís preview it. And this will show the theme with my siteís content.
Notice that my main pages are now at the top.
That RSS link is built-in and the only thing that shows up here is Uncatogarized because
I this menu has not been customized yet. Remember that I didnít have it in my original theme.
This picture changes every time I preview the theme.
If I want to use this theme, I can close the preview window and then click the Activate
link.
If I decide that it doesnít look good with my content, I can click the Return to Theme
Installer link and then delete it, which is what Iím going to do.
I want to point out one other thing. Notice that there is no Delete link on the Active
theme. Thatís another good reason to keep the Twenty-Eleven theme around so that you
can activate it if you need to delete the other theme. However, you donít want a bunch
of other themes simply stored here. So, delete any others that are not in use.
I hope youíve enjoyed this tutorial. Itís the same type of information I offer in the
one-on-one WordPress training classes where I go more in-depth and show you how to use
choose a theme based on your unique needs.
Visit BlogAid.net where youíll find more video tutorials, articles and other free downloads.