How to Install a New WordPress Theme, Then Use Website Files to Upload
For those of you who are new to WordPress, it can be a bit overwhelming to think about how to make your site look perfect.
There are just so many options, which can sometimes make it feel like a bit of a guessing game.
To save you the effort and anxiety, we’ve gone ahead and curated this blog post where we talk you through the process of installing a new WordPress theme,
from start to finish.
So sit back and enjoy.
The Backbone Of A WordPress Site
At the heart of any WordPress site is the theme, which is responsible for giving it its look and feel.
While there are hundreds of beautiful templates to choose from, using one of these templates alone won’t make your site stand out.
Instead, you need to understand what kind of template you’re using and then utilize that knowledge to guide your decisions about content and structure.
Tip: Set A Theme Aside
As we mentioned above, a theme is the backbone of your site, so it’s important not to overload it with too much content.
One of the best WordPress tips is to set aside a separate section of your site for albums and collections that you can call up when needed.
By doing this, you will make your site much more accessible to your audience since they won’t be bogged down by unnecessary content.
Choosing The Right Colors
In terms of the colors you choose for your WordPress site, it’s important to keep in mind the theme you’ve chosen.
If you’ve picked a dark theme, then it might not be the best idea to go for a yellow accent wall, for example.
As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to pick a color that doesn’t clash with the template’s colors, but can still be used to give the piece of content it’s standing for a bit of a pop.
Content Is Key
Apart from the colors, your choice of fonts is also important.
The content on your site is what brings in the visitors, so it’s important to pick a typeface that they can easily read.
This will improve the overall user experience and keep them coming back for more.
Installation Of A New WordPress Theme
To install a new theme on your WordPress site, you will need to log into your dashboard and then click on the themes section.
Next, click the Install button to start the process.
This will take you to a page where you can choose either to download the theme directly from the WordPress repository or to go for a premium version that’s been curated by a professional team.
If you decide to go with the premium version, don’t forget to login using your email address and password to make sure you can download the appropriate themes for the rest of your sites.
Getting Started With The Bootstrap Documentation
For those of you who are familiar with HTML and CSS, you will find the Bootstrap documentation a breeze to follow along with.
For those of you who are new to web design and have never used bootstrap, then this documentation is a great place to start.
By following the step-by-step instructions, you will be able to create a fully functioning WordPress theme in no time at all.
Creating The Backend Of Your Website
Before you start designing the front-end of your website, it’s important to create the back-end first.
This includes things like your site’s menus (which will become the backbone of your site’s navigation),
the order in which your content is displayed (which will become the order your traffic is shown the various content on your site),
and much more.
To create the back-end of your website, you will need to make use of a content management system (CMS).
There are a number of great CMS’s available for download that can help you get started, like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
Designing For Mobile First
Since more and more people are accessing the web via their phones, it’s important that you design your website (if indeed, it’s being built from scratch) with mobile in mind.
This means that you will be designing your site with the mobile user in mind and taking into consideration things like how the text fits on the screen, how the content can be accessed via touch, how images are displayed, and much more.
In addition to thinking about the desktop user, you will also need to consider the tablet user in mind since they are accessing the web differently than the phone user.
Creating Different Versions Of Your Website
After you’ve gotten the basic functionalities of your website up and running, you will want to create a mobile-friendly (or tablet friendly) and a non-mobile-friendly (or non-tablet-friendly) version of your website.
The mobile-friendly version will be the one that responds to the screen sizes of the various mobile devices, meaning that it will look good on a phone or on a tablet.
The non-mobile-friendly version will be the one that looks the same on all devices, including desktop computers and laptops. This is commonly known as a “desktop-friendly” version.
With just a few clicks of the button, you can switch back and forth between these two versions of your website using a tool called “responsive design.”
This tool will make it much easier for your site’s visitors to find what they’re looking for since the content is displayed based on the screen size of their device.
You can also create a third version of your website, which is a combination of the first two versions we mentioned above. This is commonly known as a “hybrid” version.
Adding More Content
Once you’ve got your site’s basic functionalities working (h2>Tip: Set A Theme Aside), it’s time to start adding content.
To do this, you will need to navigate to your dashboard’s widgets section and then drag widgets from the sidebar onto the homepage or any other area of your site that you deem fit.
Once you’ve added a few widgets, you can start to experiment with different layouts and configurations to find the one that works best for your site.
Make Your Site Faster
Aside from the various functionalities, your site’s loading speed is also important.
Since your site’s content is what’s drawing in the visitors, making it load faster will help improve your site’s engagement rate.
Creating More Than One Section Of Blog
If you are running a blog or a news website with a large amount of content, then it’s a good idea to create more than one section of your site.
This way, you can have a place for recent content and a place for older content.
To create these sections, you will need to navigate to your dashboard’s Structure section and then click on the + icon next to “Blog” (if you’re viewing your website from the homepage) or “News” (if you’re viewing your site from a specific page).
This will open up a menu where you can choose which section of your site you want to use the “Blog” or “News” widget to populate.
Adding A Comment Section
Another important thing to have on your WordPress site is a place for comments.
Having a vibrant discussion among your site’s readers is important in order to strengthen your online community and encourage people to share their thoughts and opinions with you.
To add a comment section, you will need to navigate to your dashboard’s Structure section and then click on the “+” icon next to “Comments.”
This will open up a menu where you can choose the comment type (i.e., “Notification,” “Link,” or “Related”) and who you want to allow to comment (i.e., specific users or the general public).
Once you’ve added a few comments, it’s time to start engaging with your audience.
You can do this by tweeting about the various topics covered on your site or leaving a comment on a blog post discussing your site’s content.
Choosing The Right Domain Name
When choosing a domain name for your website, it’s important to think about whether you want your site to be accessible via mobile devices or desktops.