Installing and configuring themes

The process of installing a WordPress theme is super simple, even for a person who has no prior experience with CMS. WordPress includes a few basic themes upon initial installation and activates the latest theme on your site. The Twenty Seventeen theme is the one activated by default in the latest version of WordPress.

Let's go through the process of installing a theme:

  1. First, you have to log in as administrator and go to the Appearance | Themes section. You will see a list of available themes, with the first one being the active theme. You can change the theme by clicking the Activate button of other available themes in the list.
  2. Once the new theme has been activated, the previous one will be automatically deactivated. Usually, we will not be using the existing themes unless your site needs basic features. Therefore, we need a way to install new themes.
  3. We can install themes by using the Add New button in the Appearance | Themes section. You will get a list of free themes from the WordPress theme directory, as shown in the following screenshot:

  1. You have two options: installing a theme from the free theme directory or uploading a theme that's not available in the directory. The first option only requires you to click the Activation button of the theme in the list. The other option requires you to click on the Upload Theme button and upload a .zip file with a valid WordPress theme. After installation, you can activate the theme from a separate screen.

The files for the new theme will be located in the wp-content/themes directory, with a new directory by the theme name. Once a new theme has been installed, you will see changes in the Customize, Widgets, and Menus sections of the Appearance menu. The theme-specific settings and components will be added to these menu items.

We will be using the default Twenty Seventeen theme throughout this chapter. Since it's a free, built-in theme, you won't find a separate options panel. In advanced premium themes, you will find an options panel in a separate menu item, where you can configure the theme's features and layouts.

This kind of basic installation is good enough that you can now dive into the development aspects of a theme. We will start by understanding how we can use a theme in development.