How to Install Your Theme
Sections
To install your theme, first you should have have WordPress installed on your hosting provider. Next you will want to login to WordPress and then we can get started.
Install Using the WordPress Installer
Using the WordPress installer is the easiest method for installing your new theme.
Download Your Theme
You will have received an email with a download link following your purchase. If you cannot locate the email, you can also login to your new account and use the download link here.
Once downloaded, you will find a .zip file with your theme name and version (i.e. crowd.zip) This is the file you will install.
Step 2 – Check Files
Make sure that your downloaded file is a .zip file. For Mac users, the file is often unzipped.
In this case, make sure to compress the unzipped folder.
Step 3 – Install Theme
FTP Upload
Step 1 – FTP Details
To get started with an FTP Service, you will need to know source your FTP information. It would be best to refer to your hosting provider documentation on where to locate this information. Most hosts will have a section just for FTP accounts. The details you require as are follows:
– FTP host address
– FTP username
– FTP password
– location of your WordPress installation inside the hosting account (usually directly into the public_html folder or some folder inside this)
Start your FTP host, and login using the details above.
Step 2 – Download and Unzip Theme
First you must download the theme you’ve purchased, you will have received an email with a download link, if you have not received this, or cannot find the email you can login to your account here.
Download the Theme, it will be a zipped file with the theme name and version i.e. rebecca.1.4.8.zip. Unzip the file (For mac users with Safari, the file may already be unzipped).
It should look like the following:
Step 3 – Upload to Themes Folder
Now go to your FTP Host (we use FileZilla), login and connect to your site. If you need further instructions for this, refer to your hosting documentation, or contact hosting support.
Once connected to FTP, on the left hand side, look for the directory where you downloaded them theme and find the unzipped theme folder.
On the right hand side, navigate to folder WP Content > Themes (go into this folder) or wp-content/themes.
In the left hand pane, choose the unzipped theme folder, right click and select “Upload” from the menu.
After the transfer is complete you will have your new file in the right hand window, the theme will now be in WordPress.
Step 4 – Activating Theme
Remember! If you are switching themes from an existing WordPress site, make sure to read the switching WordPress themes link. We highly recommend using our Flo Launch Plugin if making a theme switch.
For new sites, you are now ready to activate your theme. Login to WordPress navigate to Appearance > Themes, find the new theme, and simply click the Activate link (see below)
Note: If the Theme preview is blank, do not activate the new Theme without investigating further. Your site may not be displayed correctly, otherwise.
Next check out Recommended Plugins below.
Recommended plugins
Once the theme is installed and activated, you’ll be presented with recommended plugins. It is recommended to install the Flo Updater plugin, if Visual composer is present it will also required be required. Hover over the plugin name, and click install, repeat for any plugins that you want to include.
Once installed make sure to activate the plugin, you can click the return to required plugins page (again hover, but this time activate), or simply go to the plugins tab and activate:
Once you’ve completed this, you’re ready to start designing your site.
Installation Issues
Broken Theme or Stylesheet Missing
The most common WordPress install issue that can occur with users new to installing WordPress themes is a “Broken theme and/or stylesheets missing” error message being displayed when trying to upload or activate the theme.
This error occurs when the file being uploaded is incorrect. When you download your theme you receive a .zip file preceded with the theme name for example blanco.zip. This file contains multiple files for theme installation, such as documentation, updater plugin, demo content etc.
To install the theme, you need to unpack the file you download, and in the unpacked folder you will see a few folders. From all those files you need the zip file called “theme_name.zip” inside the original zip, where ‘theme_name’ is the actual name of the theme. You must install the “theme_name.zip”.
For example below you can see that I have unzipped the blanco.1.7.2.zip file, inside of this unzipped folder you can find the zip file that you must upload “Blanco.zip”.
Upload Max File Size too large
This occurs when your WordPress has a max media file size upload/or your host has set a max file upload size. If this error occurs you should upload your theme using FTP, check the FTP upload section above.
PHP Errors
If you get an error after installation, and it has something related to PHP in the text, it’s most likely a PHP error. If thats the case, first check your hosting panel, and find out if your PHP version is at least version 5.6. If not upgrade to PHP 5.6. If there is still an issue, contact our support team for assistance.