Here’s what we’ll cover:
What is a WordPress Theme?
A WordPress theme controls the look and feel of the site— it is the tool that allows you to choose your site’s design and layout.
Your WordPress site must have an active theme. When you first install WordPress it will have a default theme activated, but to customize your site you will probably want to select a different theme that matches the type of site you want to build.
The theme does not change the content of the site– it only impacts how your content is displayed. You can change the theme at any time and you won’t lose the content of your posts and pages.
There are thousands of themes to choose from, both free and premium. You can find them directly from your WordPress admin dashboard or you can download them from third-party developers and marketplaces.
It’s important that you select a good theme, because it is going to affect the style, performance, and usability of your website.
How to Choose a Good WordPress Theme
There are so many themes (both free and premium) to choose from. At first it may seem overwhelming because there are so many options, but there are some good ways to start narrowing down the search.
First, you want to think about your site’s specific needs. Ask yourself a few questions:
- What type of website are you going to build?
- Do you want a multi-purpose theme (that can be customized for many different types of sites) or a niche theme (that is intended for a specific type of site)?
- Are there specific design elements that are important to you?
- Are you going to spend money for a premium theme?
- Do you want a page builder to be included with a theme?
Once you’ve considered some of these things you’ll have a good starting point to know what you’re looking for.
Free vs. Premium Themes
There are many high-quality themes available for free, so don’t feel like you have to spend money on your theme. However, if you do have a theme budget it will expand your options.
The biggest difference between free and premium themes is usually going to be the customization options. A free theme may allow you to make a few choices, like changing the colors and fonts. A premium theme is typically going to allow you to customize a wide variety of elements to more fully control the site design and layout.
Other aspects to consider are that free themes are often much easier to set up if you’re a beginner, but premium themes usually offer support through email or chat while free themes typically don’t.
At the end of the day, every theme is different and there are no rules about what is offered on free or premium themes. It is always important that you carefully review a theme to make sure it is a good one that performs well and will provide the design choices that you need for your specific website.
Tips to Choose a Quality Theme
So how do you choose a good theme that performs well if you’re not a developer?
- Read the reviews. See what other people are saying about the theme that you’re interested in.
- Check when it was last updated. You want a theme that is regularly updated, because that indicates that it is actively managed and compatible with the most recent version of WordPress.
- Make sure it’s a responsive theme. “Responsive” means that the layout works with different devices, including tablets and mobile phones. You want a site that looks great no matter what type of device a visitor is using.
- Check for the features you need. If there are certain style or layout elements that you need, make sure the theme you’re considering offers them.
Now that we know what to consider when choosing a theme, let’s take a look at where to find them and how to install them.
Where to Find WordPress Themes
Find Free WordPress Themes
The first, and arguably best, place to find WordPress themes is directly from the WordPress repository in your WordPress dashboard.
From your dashboard go to Appearance > Themes. That will show you what themes you currently have installed on your site. (WordPress will include a few default themes when you first install it.) To look for a new theme click the ‘Add New‘ button at the top of the page.
Click Appearance > Themes and then ‘Add New’ to add new themes.
You can use the tabs at the top of the page to see popular or recommended themes, and the search box lets you search for specific types of themes if you’re looking for something niche (like ‘restaurant,’ ‘pet store,’ or ‘photography’).
The WordPress repository has thousands of theme options, all of which are free to install.
Find Premium WordPress Themes
There are lots of websites that sell premium themes, but one of the best places to find premium themes is called ThemeForest by Envato Market.
From ThemeForest you can search through themes for every type of website you can imagine. It will also let you see previews of the themes, read reviews, contact the developer, and get all the technical details for each theme that you’re interested in.
Use ThemeForest to Find Premium Plugins
How to Test & Install WordPress Themes
When you’re looking through the WordPress repository (Appearance > Themes > Add New) if you hover over a theme you will see a “Preview” button appear. You can click this button to get an idea of what the theme will look like, read more theme details, and get a link to reviews of the theme.
Be aware that these previews are often very basic and don’t give a full picture of what a theme can really do. Your best bet is to look on Google for the theme’s website, which will usually have much more complete previews & examples of the theme or very likely be built with the theme.
Hover over a theme and click ‘Preview‘ to open the preview mode
The preview mode will give a simple example of the theme
Install a theme from the dashboard repository
It’s incredibly simple to install a theme from the WordPress repository. When you like a theme just click the ‘Install’ button. The Install button can be found in a couple of places. The first place is on the ‘Add Themes’ listing page (Appearance > Themes > Add New). When you hover over a theme the Install button appears right next to that ‘Preview’ button we just used. The second place is in preview mode; the ‘Install’ button can be found in the top left of the screen.
Install a theme from the main listing page
Install a theme from the preview mode
After you click the ‘Install’ button the text will change to say “Installing” while it uploads to your site. Once it has finished installing the text on the button will change to say “Activate.” If the theme that you just installed is the theme you want to use, click ‘Activate‘ to make the theme your active theme.
Click ‘Activate’ to make a theme the site’s active theme
Install a theme you downloaded
If you purchased a premium theme from a site like ThemeForest then they will provide you with a download link after your purchase to download the theme. Once you have downloaded it to your computer you need to install it on your site by uploading it.
To upload a theme, go to Appearance > Themes > Add New and then click the ‘Upload Theme‘ button.
This will make a box appear. Click the ‘Choose File‘ button to select the theme from your computer. (It will be in whichever folder you downloaded it to — most computers automatically download files to a “Downloads” folder.)
Once you’ve selected the theme click the ‘Install Now‘ button to install it onto your website.
Click ‘Upload Theme’ to upload a theme from your computer
Click ‘Choose File’ to select the file from your computer, then click ‘Install Now’ to install it
After you click the install button you will be redirected to a page that tells you the results of the installation.
(Note: Depending on the size of the theme you’re installing it make take some time for anything to happen. Don’t refresh the page after clicking the Install Now button! Just wait it out until you are redirected to the results page.)
If everything looks good on the results page you can click ‘Activate’ to make the newly uploaded theme your active theme.
Click ‘Activate’ to make the uploaded theme your active theme
How to Customize Your Theme’s Appearance
Once you have activated the theme you want, go to Appearance > Customize to change your theme settings to style your site the way you want.
Click Appearance > Customize to open the WordPress customizer
This will open the WordPress customizer where you can choose settings for your theme. It is a live preview so you can see the changes take place as you make them. There are many options in the customizer but they vary by theme, so yours may not look exactly the same as in the image below.
(Note: Some themes will have an additional place to select options for the theme. This is often found in the dashboard under something like Appearance > Theme Settings, or a direct link in the dashboard menu that says the theme name, etc. It varies by theme, so it’s always a good idea to check your theme’s documentation, which is the instruction manual. This can usually be found on a theme’s website.)
When you’ve gone through the settings and made the changes you want, you can click the ‘Publish‘ button to make the changes live on your website.
After you have made the changes you want in the customizer click ‘Publish’ to make the changes live
How to Update & Manage Your Themes
Updating Themes
It’s important that you keep your themes updated. There are a few places that you can update your themes from.
(Note: You should always back your site up before running any updates. We recommend a plugin called Updraft for making regular backups of your site. The free version of this plugin should be a great option for most websites.)
The first place you can update your theme is from the Updates page. You can get to the updates page by click the icon that has a number next to it at the top of your dashboard, or by clicking Dashboard > Updates.
Go to the Updates page by clicking the number at the top of the dashboard
From the Updates page, scroll to the bottom to see the themes that need to be updated. Check the box next to the themes you want to update and then click the ‘Update Themes‘ button.
To update a theme check the box next to the theme and then click ‘Update Themes’
The second way to update your themes is from the Themes page. Go to Appearance > Themes and click the ‘Update Now‘ link that will appear above any theme that needs to be updated.
Click Update Now to run theme updates from the Themes page
Delete or activate a theme
If you want to either delete a theme from your site or change your active theme to a different theme that you already have installed, go to the Themes page (Appearance > Themes). Click the theme that you want to delete or make your active theme and you will see several buttons. You can ‘Activate’ it, ‘Preview’ it, or ‘Delete’ it from this page.
Go to the Themes page (Appearance > Themes), click the theme you want to manage, and then activate it or delete it
Themes vs Page Builders
One thing that you’ll want to be aware of is the difference between themes and page builders. Although they do similar things, they are different tools.
As we’ve learned in this post, every WordPress site must have a theme. A page builder is an optional add-on that will give you so much more freedom and control over your site.
Page builders are sometimes bundled into a theme, and sometimes are additional plugins that you will install. A page builder lets you override the theme & fully customize your site. It gives you complete control over the design of your site and many more layout options.
Some popular page builders that you will run into are Divi, Elementor, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, Visual Composer and more.
If you are interested in page builders, we recommend Divi because it is both a theme and a page builder. (However, if you only want the page builder you can install it as a plugin.) It is a premium theme, so you do need to pay for it, but we love how extensive the page builder options are. In fact, Let’s Website Build is built with Divi.
If you want to learn more about page builders vs themes, check out this article.
So what’s next?
Now that you know all the basics of finding, installing, activating, customizing, updating, and managing WordPress themes, we recommend you check out these guides:
