How To Change Your WordPress Theme

Changing your WordPress theme is one of the most fundamental things that you should do when working with a WordPress website. That’s because the theme of your website defines the overall look and feel of your site. This is why you should master how to change and customize your WordPress theme. The “how to change your WordPress theme” guide has been written in a way to you step by step instruction that you should to change the WordPress theme for your website.

What Are WordPress Themes?

A theme within the WordPress world is a collection of stylesheets and templates. It is used to define the look and appearance of a website. All websites powered by the WordPress CMS use themes. WordPress makes it super easy to both change and add new themes to your site.

How to Find New WordPress Themes?

Once again, this is why (in my opinion) WordPress is hands down the best CMS out there. You can find thousands of WordPress themes both within the CMS itself as well as the World Wide Web. There are two main methods of locating awesome WordPress themes.

Method 1. As just mentioned, you can actually search for WordPress themes via the CMS. Here are the steps on how to find new WordPress Themes with the first method.

1. Log into your WordPress website’s Dashboard
2. On the right side, mouse over Appearance and click Themes
3. Here you will find the currently installed theme as well as any other theme that you have downloaded.
4. To find new WordPress Themes, go ahead and click on the “Add New” Button.
5. Here you will find some recommended themes. You can either pick from one of these, or you can actually type in a Search Keyword (upper right hand area – search themes…) to search for specific themes.
6. Once you find the theme that you like, you can select it to Preview and Install it directly to your website.

Method 2. The second option (also mentioned earlier) is to go ahead and search for WordPress themes on the Internet. There are hundreds of websites and Blogs out there that provide Countless awesome themes for you to download. Once you find a good website that offers themes that you like, you just have to download it and install. Take a look below for instructions.

1. Find a Website that you like and download the Theme that you want from there.
2. The Theme will most likely be in a ZIP format.
3. Once you have the zip file, you can upload the Theme directly to your WordPress site.
4. So follow the same steps from Method 1 (up until Point #4). On the very top of the page, you will see a button that says “Upload Theme”. Go ahead and click on that button.
5. Once the Theme is uploaded, you can just click on the Install button to finish off the installation.
6. The End.

The two methods of searching and installing WordPress Themes are very simple and straightforward .By utilizing our instructions, you will have your new WordPress theme up and running in no time.

How to Replace Your Existing WordPress Theme?

If you are not happy with the current theme on your WordPress website, you can replace it with relative ease. Here are the steps that you must follow to replace the old theme with a new one.

1. By following either of the two methods discussed above, you can locate a new WordPress theme and install it right over the old one. Once again, you will need to navigate to the Appearance section on the right side in your WordPress dashboard, and click on the Themes button. This is the WordPress Themes management section. Look to Methods 1 & 2 for the rest of the instructions above.
2. Before installing the new WordPress theme, you should preview it. If you just install the new theme without previewing it, you risk your website layout, menu’s, design and navigation being broken.
3. Once you make sure that all is satisfactory, go ahead and apply/install the new Theme for your site.
4. Now, do keep in mind that the initial installation of the theme is just the start. You will most likely have to go and tweak some stuff. Take a look at your site after the theme is applied to see what needs to be worked on. A good way to resolve issues is to open up the WordPress Theme Customizer. Here is how to do that.
   1. Go back to your Dashboard
   2. On the right side, Mouse over Appearance and click on Customize
   3. This is where you can customize a variety of settings, options, design and layout for your new WordPress Theme.

For more detailed instructions on how to Customize your new Theme, please continue reading this “how to change your WordPress Theme” guide.

How to Customize an Installed WordPress Theme?

As we just mentioned, you can customize your new WordPress theme by going to Appearance -> Customize. Here, you can customize a variety of settings for your website. Take a look below at what some of these items are.

1. Your Site’s Identity
2. Your Website’s Layout
3. The Colors Of Your Site
4. The Typography Settings
5. Background Images For the Site
6. General Settings
7. Custom Navigation & Menu Systems
8. Customizing Widgets and Widget Areas
9. Your Homepage Settings
10. You can Add Additional CSS To Your Site Here
11. You can adjust the settings of your Related Posts
12. And More.

Different Themes have different settings and different names for their settings within the WordPress Customizer. I would suggest that you explore the different settings and preview them live in the Customizer as you make the changes to see the impact. Have fun with this.

Conclusion – How To Change Your WordPress Theme

Everyone that works with the WordPress CMS to develop new websites needs to be aware of the importance of choosing the right WordPress theme. A good Theme can make or break a site. It can provide great control over the look and feel of your site in an easy to manage settings. The above steps should definitely be able to assist you on your journey of adding new WordPress Themes.

This Page Is Part of “How To Design a Website With WordPress (Complete Step-By-Step For Beginners)” Guide!

Here is a bit more information about WordPress Themes.