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Change WordPress Themes- Tutorial and Instructions

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Change WordPress Themes: Overview

            This tutorial will discuss how to change WordPress themes. The information in this tutorial is from lesson “7.1- Selecting and Changing Themes” from our “Mastering WordPress Made Easy v.4.0” training.

            A theme is a set of preset styles and functions that determine the layout and look of your WordPress website. You can change WordPress themes within your site as often as you like. Themes can vary in functionality, look, feel, and style. It’s important to note that if you have one type of theme installed and then change WordPress themes, some features and functionality may be lost on your site. However, downloading, activating, and deactivating themes will only change the appearance of your site. The content will remain unchanged.

            Some themes are free and some are paid. WordPress comes with several different free default themes from which you can choose. They are named by the year they were created, such as “Twenty Twelve,” “Twenty Thirteen,” and “Twenty Fourteen.” You can also find a list of other free WordPress themes at http://www.wordpress.org/themes/.

            Pages in WordPress consist of a main area, a header area, a footer area, and a sidebar. Each area contains different content that can be customized, depending on the theme chosen.

            To change WordPress themes on your site, click “Appearance” in the Navigation Bar. In the themes area, all downloaded themes will be displayed, with the active theme highlighted. You will know that this theme is active because it will say “Active” in the left corner of the theme image. You can see more information about any theme shown, if desired, by clicking the thumbnail of a theme to open a “Theme Details” pane. To close the “Theme Details” pane, click the “X” in the upper-right corner of the pane.

            To preview a theme before applying it, hover over a theme image and click “Live Preview.” Your website will appear in a new window with the new theme shown. This is a live preview, meaning you can click on the links on your site to see what each page will look like with this new theme. Also, because it is only a live preview, no one else will see the changes made by the theme until it is activated.

Change WordPress Themes- Tutorial and Instructions: A picture of the video lesson "7.1- Selecting and Changing Themes" from the "Mastering WordPress Made Easy v.4.0" training.

Change WordPress Themes- Tutorial and Instructions: A picture of the video lesson “7.1- Selecting and Changing Themes” from the “Mastering WordPress Made Easy v.4.0” training.

            While in Live Preview mode, you can use the panels on the left side of the screen to customize and preview different areas in your site. We will discuss how to customize a theme in the next lesson. To save and activate the theme in the preview to apply it to your site, click the “Save & Activate” button. To cancel the preview window and return to the site without applying it, click the “X” button in the upper-left corner.

Change WordPress Themes: Instructions

  1. To change WordPress themes on your site, click “Appearance” in the Navigation Bar.
  2. In the themes area, all downloaded themes will be displayed, with the active theme highlighted. You will know that this theme is active because it will say “Active” in the left corner of the theme image.
  3. You can see more information about any theme shown by clicking the thumbnail of a theme to open a “Theme Details” pane.
  4. To close the “Theme Details” pane, click the “X” in the upper-right corner of the pane
  5. To preview a theme before applying it, hover over a theme image and click “Live Preview.” Your website will appear in a new window with the theme shown. This is a live preview, meaning you can click on the links on your site to see what each page will look like with this new theme. Also, because it is only a live preview, no one else will see the changes made by the theme until it is activated.
  6. While in Live Preview mode, you can use the panels on the left side of the screen to customize and preview different areas in your site.
  7. To save and activate the theme in the preview to apply it to your site, click the “Save & Activate” button.
  8. To cancel the preview window and return to the site without applying it, click the “X” button in the upper-left corner to close the window.
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