LuckyMarble / i3dthemes: Wordpress 'Theme' Tutorials

open up your web browser and login into your websites wp-admin page
- type your websites URL followed by a forward slash and wp-admin as in "www.frazoo.net/wp-admin"

verify you can log in with your user name and password

downloading your WP-Theme

log into your LuckyMarble / i3dthemes members account ( click here )
click on the 'My Purchases' tab
click on the 'Download' button ( located to the right, under the Product info )

review the EULA and Refund Exchange Policiy Terms .. click to 'agree'
then click on the 'Download' button

your members account will start to 'assemble' your 'Theme' into a downloadable package for you

once the 'Theme' is assembed, click on the 'Save File' or 'Save As' button on the download options panel

if downloading with Internet Explorer, you'll have an option of where to save the file to.. we recommend your 'Desktop' to start with.
if downloading with Firefox, Safari, Chrome or any of the Mozilla web browsers you'll need to know how and where you 'defined' your 'download' options for these web browsers.
in many cases, the web browser will save the file to the 'Downloads' folder on your computer, but many people change the default settings
- a tip .. right click on the download window when the file has finished downloading, and select 'Open Containing Folder'

the folder with your zipped 'Theme' package will open and you'll find your theme file

now, copy, move, or drag the zip file, onto your computers 'Desktop' ... just so you can quickly find it again.
you should see a zip file on your Desktop similar to this

***IMPORTANT***

There are 2 ways of installing your Wordpress 'Theme'

Through Wordpress
Through FTP

the minimum requirements for installing via Wordpress

You can install your 'Theme' through your Wordpress Admin page.

The Minimum Requirements to Install through Wordpress

you need access to your WP Admin page ( login )
you will need your FTP Username and Password ( provided by your web host for uploading via FTP )
your web host will allow for file uploads of 8-10 megabytes

If you are installing the 'Theme' only package, you have most likely accessed your WP Admin page already. If not, login to your Admin page just to make sure.

Some web hosts put limits on the size of a file upload, such as the 'Theme' package. The default limit seems to be 8 megabytes, but there are web hosts that set the limit to 2 megabytes. The file size of your theme may be as large as 8-10 megabytes.

If you want to install your theme via Wordpress, you may need to contact your web host and ask for the file size limit to be increased. To do so, here's a snippet of information they may need to know.

Here’s a letter you can send to your host; copy and paste!

I'm interested in running the open-source WordPress <http://wordpress.org/> CMS / blogging software. I have a 'Theme' that I would like to upload in '.zip' file format. The file size of that theme is 8-10 megabytes.

Will my "upload_max_filesize" and "post_max_size" PHP settings allow for an 8-10 megabyte upload?

If not, is it possible to change these settings for my hosting account so I can upload my Wordpress Theme?

Thanks!

Your web host may not be able to change these settings. It really depends on your web host and how flexible or helpful they are.

installing via Wordpress

Log into your Admin page
Click on the 'Appearance' menu
Click on the 'Themes' menu

click on the 'Add New' button

click on the 'Upload' link

click on the 'Browse' button and 'browse' to your desktop ( or where ever you downloaded your 'Theme' zip file to )

in the following screenshot, you would click on the 'Desktop' link, then click on the 'Theme' zip file, then click on the 'Open' button

click on the 'Install Now' button once you've located and 'loaded' the 'Themes' zip file

** if your 'Theme' zip file does not upload, or an error message is displayed instead of the next screenshot, this is an indication that the 'Theme' zip file is larger than the file size upload settings for your web hosting account.. if this is the case, move to the next section "Installing via FTP".

Wordpress will change 'screens' once the upload is completed
enter your 'Hostname' ( website URL )
enter your FTP 'Username' and 'Password'
** This is NOT your Wordpress Username and Password
** This is the FTP Username and Password provided by your web host for uploading via FTP

once you've correctly entered your FTP Username and Password, Wordpress will change screens to confirm

click on the 'Activate' link

your new 'Theme' will now be 'Activated'
Wordpress will activate your new 'Theme' Dashboard

the minimum requirements for installing via FTP

The standard or traditional method of installing a Wordpress 'Theme' is through FTP ( File Transfer Protocol ).

FTP is a method of 'uploading' or 'moving' files from your computer, up to your server. FTP is the industry 'standard' for transfering files, or in your case, installing Wordpress Themes. Using FTP is much like using your 'Windows Explorer' or 'My Documents' window on your computer. You drag files from one folder, into another. And that's all you do to install your Wordpress 'Theme' onto your web server.

It wasn't until the more recent versions of Wordpress that you could even install a 'Theme' through the Wordpress Admin panel, it's a fairly new feature .. that does require a few server settings to make it successful. If you are not able to install via the Wordpress Admin page, or just prefer to install your theme as millions of Wordpress users have done before now, is to use an FTP program to upload your files.

Minimum Requirements to Install through FTP

An FTP program ( such as Filezilla, it's FREE )
The FTP username and password ( provided by your web host )
The name of your remote 'Root' folder ( provided by your web host )

installing via FTP

In the following demonstrations we'll be using an excellent 'open source' ( aka FREE ) FTP program "Filezilla". If you have your own FTP program, all the better. If you are new to using FTP, you'll first want to download and install an FTP client program such as "Filezilla".

download and install your FTP program
start your FTP program

click on the File menu, and select Site Manager
click on the 'New Site' button
enter a 'Name' for your new site

in the 'General' tab of the 'Site Manager' enter the URL for your site ( www not usually required, try without first )
then change the 'Logon Type' from Anonymous to 'Normal'
enter the 'FTP' Username for 'User:' (provided by your web host)
enter the 'FTP' Password for 'Password:' (provided by your web host)

once logged in, the 'FTP' folder structure of your web should be in view
depending on how your web host setup your FTP username and password, you may be logged into your root folder directly
the 'typical' FTP setup will look something like this

when you signed up for your web hosting, your host should have provided the FTP login information as well as the 'root' folder, or the folder that you'll be publishing your web files up to ... in this example, it's the 'httpdocs' folder where we'll be publishing our website files, so just doubleclick on the 'httpdocs' folder

as you already have the Wordpress [engine] installed on your server, you should see the 'Wordpress' core files when you access your 'root' folder as in this example

now double click on the 'wp-content' folder to open it

now double click on the 'themes' folder to open it

and you should see something as follows

all you need to do now, is 'extract' the 'Theme' zip file you downloaded from your members page earlier
and drag or 'upload' the files to the 'Themes' folder on your server
to 'extract' the 'Theme' zip file, right click on the file on your Desktop, and select 'Extract All'

leave the 'default' extract settings as they are, and click on the 'Extract' button

if you left the extraction settings at default, a folder will open when complete
if you use a different method to extract zip files ( such as Winzip, or Winrar ) just open the 'folder' when complete and you should see your Wordpress 'Theme' folder

this is the folder you'll be uploading to the 'Themes' folder on your server
you can drag the folder directly into your 'Themes' folder

you should see some activity in your FTP program as the files are uploading to your server

or use the 'local' folder list to 'upload' the folder.
in the 'Local site:' window pane, select 'Desktop'

when you switch to the 'Desktop' folder for your Local site, all the files and folders on your Desktop will be displayed in the 'window' below
locate the extracted 'Theme' folder

now double click on the extracted 'Theme' folder to open it

you'll see your Wordpress 'Theme' folder
right click on your wordpress 'Theme' folder and select 'Upload'

you should see a flurry of activity in your FTP program as your files are being uploaded
it should take several minutes to upload your 'Theme' folder

when the 'Theme' folder is uploaded, the 'Queued files' number should be ( 0 ) and the activity window dormant

right click somewhere inside the 'Themes' folder on the 'right window panel' and select 'Refresh'

and your 'Theme' folder should now be displayed inside the 'Themes' folder on your server

now all that should be left to do, is return to your 'Wordpress' Admin page, and activate your new 'Theme'

log into your 'Wordpress' Admin page
click on the 'Appearance' menu
click on the 'Themes' menu

you should see your new 'Theme' listed on the 'Manage Themes' page
click on the 'Activate' link listed under your 'Theme'

Wordpress will active your new 'Theme'
and switch over to your 'Theme' Dashboard

Continue to Exercise 2-1: Take a tour of your 'Themes' WP-Dashboard