It’s not difficult to set up your new theme. Follow this simple guide and you’ll have it knocked out in a snap.
Step 1 – Upload the Theme Files to Your WordPress Site
Option 1: Upload Via WordPress Dashboard
If you are using WordPress 2.8 or above, you can install the theme’s .zip file directly from your WordPress Dashboard. This simplifies things since you don’t need to use FTP:
- When viewing the WordPress Dashboard, go to Appearance >> Themes
- Click “Install Themes” (big tab at top)
- Click “Upload”
- Click “Choose File” then navigate to where you downloaded the theme .zip file; click “Open”
- Click “Install Now”
- When done installing, click “Activate”
- That’s it!
Option 2: Upload Via FTP
For this option, you’ll need an FTP (file transfer protocol) program. An FTP program allows you to transfer files between your computer and your web hosting account. There are several available, but I use SmartFTP.
First, you’ll need to unzip the theme folder, which can be done with any standard unzip program. If you don’t have one already installed on your computer, Stuffit Expander is a popular option for PC or MAC users.
You’ll want to upload your theme folder to the /wp-content/themes/ folder in your WordPress installation.
Step 2 – Install and Activate Supported Plugins
This theme has built-in support for several plugins:
Optional: WordPress Popular Posts – Your Most Popular Posts will appear in the right sidebar in the tabbed navigation box as seen on this site.
Optional: Contact Form 7 – If you want a contact form somewhere on your site, the theme is already equipped to integrate with this plugin. See here for an example.
Optional: WP-PageNavi – This is a great little plugin by Lester Chan that will add page numbers in place of the “Older Posts” and “Newer Posts” links at the bottom of your pages.
Optional: Page Tagger – This plugin will allow you to add tags to your Pages. That way, you can display Pages in the Featured Post slider if you like.
Optional: Easy FancyBox – Adds lightbox effect to your in-post and gallery images.
Step 3 – Visit the Theme Settings Page and Run the Regenerate Thumbnails Tool
After you activate the theme, you should be automatically redirected to this page. If not, the link is available under the Appearance tab.
The first thing, you’ll want to do is run the Regenerate Thumbnails tool. That will ensure all your site images will be sized properly for the theme.
Beyond that, we’ve given you several optional settings on the Theme Settings page, so feel free to look around, change a few settings, and see what sort of site you can create for yourself.
In particular, you may want to check out the following features:
- Basic Site Settings
- Featured Posts
- Subscription Form and Contact Settings
Please note: the Theme Settings page offers plenty of additional guidance on how to use many of the features in the theme.
Step 4 – Add Some Content to Your Sidebar and Footer Widgets
Click the Appearance tab, then Widgets, and place some content in your sidebar and footer (if you’d like to use footer widgets). This is also the page where you can add the “Side Tabs” widget which will display Popular Posts, Recent Posts, Recent Categories and Archives (as seen on the right sidebar on this site). You can also place your Subscribe Box in either your wide sidebar or footer via the Subscribe Box widget (as seen on the right sidebar on this site).
Step 5 – Be Sure to Change Your Permalink Settings
In your WordPress control panel, click Settings >> Permalinks, and change your permalink structure to anything other than the default. This will help the theme run smoother, and it’s much better for search engine optimization.
Step 6 – Set Up Your Custom Menus
In WordPress 3.0 and above you are able to take advantage of the custom menus feature. Here is a short video to show you how it works.
