Once you have your website set up, you need to choose a theme for your site. A theme will provide the look and also some of the framework for your site.

Many people find it easier to view and evaluate different themes if they have loaded a few posts into the site first.

You needn’t worry, the content you enter is separate from the theme. This means that if you decide to change the theme, the posts and pages you have already entered will not disappear. Think of your theme as the clothing your website wears and the content as the body.

To begin choosing a theme and completing your website set up, go into your website’s dashboard and look at the menu on the left side of the screen.

Scroll down to Appearance.

Click Themes.

You should see Manage Themes in the top center of screen. Click Add New button.

You will see several options for searching for themes. There are options for Upload, Featured, Newest, Recently Updated. You may also check off characteristics like color schemes or features to limit the themes you review.

Check off any features you want to select or leave all boxes unchecked to browse all themes. Click on Find Themes button at the bottom of page to bring up the Install Themes pages and see samples of the themes.

When you see a theme that interests you, click on Preview to learn more about it. Note: to close a preview window click the x on the top left of the window.

These themes you are reviewing are all free themes and you should be aware that not all free themes are ideal.

Pros of choosing a free theme

• Can’t beat the price.
• You can test a variety of different looks.
• You can change your look without feeling you lost your investment.

Cons of choosing a free theme

• You may have little or no support.
• Your website will be less unique.
• Everything may not work as well as it appears.

I know I am not saying the popular thing here, but if you have come this far setting up your website on your own, I recommend trying a few free themes at least until you are certain what you want for your site.

I worked with a passionate business owner a few weeks ago who went through so many themes it wasn’t funny. Maybe she would have stopped sooner if there had been money already spent.

Or maybe she would have miserable about the money she spent.

At any rate, I am confident that now she knows exactly what she wants when she is ready to purchase a theme.

In my next post I will explain what you should consider if you purchase a WordPress theme. For now, let’s finish setting up your website by installing a theme.

When you have chosen a theme you prefer, click on Install.

This will bring you back to the Themes page. If you go down to the lower part of the page you should see your new theme. Click the word Activate to apply this theme to your page.

Each theme has different settings you will be able to adjust.

Unfortunately, I can’t know now what those are on the theme you choose.

If you scroll down the left side your dashboard to Settings you should see the settings you are able to customize for your theme.

This entry was posted on June 11, 2010 at 12:30 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Uncategorized by Tammi Kibler Comments Off