Book Image

WordPress 3 Site Blueprints

By : Heather R. Wallace
Book Image

WordPress 3 Site Blueprints

By: Heather R. Wallace

Overview of this book

<p>Sure, WordPress can be used for blogging, but this powerful software is capable of so much more. With the right combination of plugins, themes, customizations, and configurations WordPress can be transformed into a community portal, an e-commerce site, and much more. While it is easy to get started with WordPress, its full power is not obvious. There is very little that WordPress can't do—if you can image it, then it's probably possible with WordPress. If you want to create a powerful, fully-featured blog or non-blog website in no time, this book is for you.<br /><br />While some books merely talk about the capabilities of WordPress in general and leave you to figure out how they apply to your situation, WordPress 3 Site Blueprints takes a different approach. The first chapter will show you how to migrate from an existing static website to a WordPress blog. Each of the other chapters is devoted to the construction of a different type of site that can be created with WordPress and the right combination of themes and/or plugins. As you follow along, you will learn by doing because each of these nine chapters shows you how to build a WordPress-powered site from start to finish. That means that, by the time you reach the end of every chapter, you will have a fully-functional site online.<br /><br />Each chapter provides easy-to-understand, step-by-step instructions along with screenshots to help you follow along easily. In addition, detailed information is provided to help you optimally configure each and every plugin and theme mentioned in this book so that you can get the most out of each of these sites. By the time you reach the end of each blueprint, you will have a fully functional site online that is ready for use as is or that you may customize further if you so desire.</p>
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
WordPress 3 Site Blueprints
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Preface
Index

Adding new WordPress themes


When it comes to adding new themes to your site, there's more than one way to go about it and the method that you chose will depend upon the theme that you want to use.

Installing a theme from the Free Themes Directory

In WordPress, it's possible to install a theme from the WordPress Free Themes Directory, located at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/, with just a few clicks. To do this, click on Appearance | Themes. At the top of the screen, you will see two tabs that are labeled Manage Themes and Install Themes. You're currently on the Manage Themes screen, so click on Install Themes.

On this page, you can search for themes by keyword, author, or tag. You can also click the Featured, Newest, and Recently Updated links to browse though the themes found on those screens.

When you've found a theme that you would like to use on your site, click its Install link. Clicking that link will cause a pop-up window to appear that contains Cancel and Install Now buttons. Click Install Now. After clicking that button, WordPress will install your chosen theme. Once the installation process is complete, all that's left for you to do is click Activate.

Uploading and installing a theme

If you want to use a premium theme or a free theme that hasn't been added to the WordPress Free Themes Directory, then you will have to upload it so that it can be installed by WordPress. This may sound like a daunting task, but it's really quite simple.

Once again, you will need to navigate to Appearance | Themes and then click on the Install Themes tab. This time, however, click the Upload link located just above the search box. Now, browse your computer to locate the ZIP file that contains your theme. Once you locate the file, select it and then click Install Now. WordPress will, once again, attempt to install your theme. After WordPress has successfully installed your theme, click Activate.

Note

If the theme that you would like to install isn't in a ZIP file, then you need to upload it to the wp-content/themes directory on your server using either an FTP program or the file manager provided by your web host. After the theme has been uploaded, visit the Appearance | Themes screen to activate your theme.