As we mentioned in the preceding section, you can add a theme directly from within your wp-admin if you've chosen a theme from the WordPress Theme Directory:
- First, navigate to Appearance, and then click on the Add New button (visible at the top), as shown in the following screenshot:
The screen that's going to appear will be very similar to the Add New Plugins screen. At the top, you'll see some familiar elements, such as various sub-navigation links (Featured, Popular, Latest, Favorites, Feature Filter), along with a search box to the right. You can click on any theme displayed on the grid to see its details, along with a nice preview.
- Using Feature Filter (as shown in the following screenshot), you can filter out some of the themes based on the functionality they have or don't have. The Feature Filter is a great way to find a theme that offers a specific range of functionalities that you require for the site you're currently building. For instance, you can choose to display themes featuring a responsive layout only. This will make sure that your website is going to look great on all devices, and that's including all desktop computers, as well as mobiles and tablets:
- Now, I've already found a theme I like, so I won't bother with filtering and just put the name of the theme in the search box, as shown in the following screenshot:
- When I hover over the theme block, I will see additional links for details, preview, and installation. Clicking on Preview is a great way to see what the theme is most likely going to look like in action. When I click on Install, the theme will be downloaded and added to my collection of themes automatically (and will be visible in the Appearance section inwp-admin), as shown in the following screenshot:
- By clicking on the theme, I will see a larger block containing all the details, along with two more links to activate and see the live preview of the theme, as shown in the following screenshot:
At this point, clicking on the Activate button will result in turning the theme on and setting it as the new design on the website - instead of Twenty Nineteen (which is the default, out-of-the-box theme when you first install WordPress).