Adding Themes

There are 2 methods to find themes for your WordPress website.

1. In WordPress admin
   • Enter your WordPress admin dashboard.
   • On the sidebar, scroll down until you see apperance
   • Under apperance select themes.
   • Next to the Themes title, click Add Theme
   • Search for the theme you want under the feature filters you can select by subject and features.
   • Once you have found a good theme, click install. After installation, click Activate
2. Install manually
   • Going to third-party sites can be dangerous and expensive, so always be cautious when getting themes outside of WordPress. When paying to use a theme, there are a few buying options.
     • Theme use for one of your domains $20-$100
     • Theme use for multiple of your Domains $60-$200
     • Exclusive License where only you can use the theme $500-$1,500
   • When getting free Themes, only get them from reputable sites, as some themes may be low quality or the creator may have added something malicious in the CSS code.
   • Some websites to get themes:
     • https://themeisle.com/
     • https://www.elegantthemes.com/
     • https://themeforest.net/category/wordpress
   • Find a theme you would like to use and download it
   • Go to the WP-Admin dashboard, apperance, Themes, Upload themes
   • Upload the theme’s Zip file
   • Click Install now
   • Click Activate to get the theme onto your website

What Files Are Needed In A WordPress Theme?

Themes are actually a collection of files.

1. A .css file, this is the basic code of the style
2. index.php files, a Template for how the page should be displayed
3. Comments.php, where comments should be shown, how it shows threads, and rackbacks
4. Screenshot.png shows what the theme should look like
5. There can be many more theme files, but those are required

What to consider when selecting a theme

When choosing a theme, it’s important to think about what impression you want your website to have. For example, when looking for a theme for this website, I wanted a simple theme so that my articles could stand out. I put a lot of importance in having a theme that was easy to navigate between articles. However, you may value other features such as easy editability, a large color palette, etc.

When choosing my theme, I needed something responsive with the ability to customize. Any theme without these features was not considered. I wanted a simple theme, with easy navigation, a professional look, and a well organized layout. These features were more flexible aspects of my decision-making. When I first started searching, I followed the steps above for finding a theme in wordpress admin. I selected the blog in the feature filter. After much searching, I found 3 themes I enjoyed from the WP-Admin theme shop.

1. My Minimalist Blog https://sockgoblinz.com/wp-admin/themes.php?theme=my-minimalist-blog
   • This is the theme I went with. This theme is ectremely easy to navigate, looks very professonal, is well organized. I found the cutimiztion options to be a bit lacking but not deal breaking.
2. Midnight Blogger https://sockgoblinz.com/wp-admin/themes.php?theme=midnight-blogger
   • This was the weakest of my selections. The theme was not well organized, customizable, or easy to navigate, it also did not look very professional. When looking at this theme, I enjoyed the layout; however, it was not a good fit for this website.
3. More Blog https://sockgoblinz.com/wp-admin/themes.php?theme=moreblog
   • This theme met most of my criteria, other than being a little less organized than I would have liked. However, the theme seemed built for a news website. I also did not like having my articles scroll across the page.