How to Pick a WordPress Theme - A Guide for Beginners

Editor's Notes

• #3: I used to make movies! I was a special effects artist for George Lucas.
• #4: So who am I to make this promise? I am Christina Hills. I am a WordPress Coach and Teacher. I run a program called the Website Creation Workshop, where I teach non-techies how to create their website in WordPress.
• #6: There are various ways to find a theme. - You can search for free themes from inside your Admin (same themes as WordPress.org) - You can search for free themes at WordPress.org - You can go to a reputable Theme Company - Or you can do a Google Search (not always recommended as you must trust the source) - You can get a designer to custom build a theme for you Tip: You go to the “Themes” area to find the themes you already installed (or that came by default from the web hosting company) You will see the “Active” one in the upper left and a button to “Customize” it for your own styling. Then you will see the extra installed themes you already have in your site.
• #7: There are various ways to find a theme. - You can search for free themes from inside your Admin (same themes as WordPress.org) - You can search for free themes at WordPress.org - You can go to a reputable Theme Company - Or you can do a Google Search (not always recommended as you must trust the source) - You can get a designer to custom build a theme for you Tip: You go to the “Themes” area to find the themes you already installed (or that came by default from the web hosting company) You will see the “Active” one in the upper left and a button to “Customize” it for your own styling. Then you will see the extra installed themes you already have in your site.
• #8: What is a theme? A theme is the look and feel of your WordPress website. It is the layout and overall color scheme and style of your site. With WordPress, your theme design is separate from your content. See here how you can change the look and feel by changing the theme. This is the same site, but the only thing that has changed is the design. Themes can also be customized so that the same theme looks different from one site to another with just some header changes and color changes. Note: Only ONE theme can be active inside your WordPress website at a time.
• #10: 1) Do You Want your Blog on the Homepageor a Custom Homepage ?
• #11: Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
• #12: Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
• #13: Sometimes the Layout of the Home Page is Specific to the Theme Sometimes there is a different layout design specifically for the home page. This is theme dependent, and will depend upon your theme. For this theme the infoway theme from http://www.thebestthemes.com/inkthemes , the interior pages follow the regular format from the previous page, but the homepage has a unique layout. Note: By Default, most themes have the “Blog” displayed on the homepage of the site, but some themes like the one above, have a special home page design.
• #14: When Picking a Theme You ask yourself: 1) Are You Going to Use aFree, Paid, or Custom Theme?
• #15: Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
• #16: Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
• #17: Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
• #18: Search for Free Themes at WordPress.org Go to the WordPress.org Theme Directory and click on the “Themes” tab at the top These are the SAME themes that you find inside your WordPress admin. It’s just sometimes easier to search for and view these themes by going to WordPress.org in a browser. Alert: We recommend you only use Free themes while you are learning and experimenting with your website. It’s a great way to learn what you are looking for in a theme. BUT free themes don’t always come with support from the theme company. (and sometimes the developer abandons the theme). That is why the small $50-$100 investment in a premium theme is a small cost for the support you will get. Or you use a free theme to evaluate a company, and then go with their Pro version.
• #24: Simple can still be visually stunning, and unique to you!
• #25: Here is an example of a Mobile Responsive Theme In less than 4 years it is predicted that ½ of all web traffic will be coming from wireless mobile devices. You got to have a mobile responsive website today!
• #29: Here is an example of a Mobile Responsive Theme In less than 4 years it is predicted that ½ of all web traffic will be coming from wireless mobile devices. You got to have a mobile responsive website today!
• #35: A “Child” theme is a subset of a theme. It’s where you would do the theme customizations for a theme so that you can leave the main theme alone. Not all theme companies use “Child” themes, it’s a philosophy of theme companies. However, you CAN take your own theme, and make it a child theme.
• #40: A “Child” theme is a subset of a theme. It’s where you would do the theme customizations for a theme so that you can leave the main theme alone. Not all theme companies use “Child” themes, it’s a philosophy of theme companies. However, you CAN take your own theme, and make it a child theme.
• #44: 2 plugins to allow you to easily create your own child theme. They work pretty much the same way: install and activate plugin and just follow their setup process to create a theme.
• #46: Some themes also comes bundled with a blank child theme for you to use, right out of the box. Check your theme’s documentation to see if it’s available for your theme. https://community.theme.co/kb/how-to-setup-child-themes/
• #55: BEWARE of Searching Google for a Theme Alert: Use caution when downloading files from the internet. Make sure you trust the site you are downloading from. Look around at the sites and check that they are active sites, and not old stale ones You can also get a designer to build a theme for you, but that would be the most expensive route to take, and not always needed for people new to WordPress. It’s better to start with a free or premium theme to learn more about what you like, before incurring the high costs of a designer. Find more themes at www.TheBestThemes.com
• #59: Go to a site like www.wpThemeDetector.com And submit the URL of a site and it will let you know what theme it is using