How to Modify Your WordPress theme? A full guide!

Finding it hard to modify your WordPress theme? Then here is a guide to help you with it.

You might have heard about several website builder platforms, out of which WordPress is one of the largest platforms that we have come across. Its amazing features and easy usability makes it different from others.

Here are the top 5 reasons that prove why WordPress is better than others:

1. Used universally:

   Millions of users across the universe trust WordPress. It is one of the most popular website management systems that have several functionalities such as tools, themes, header and footer, plugins and many more to make your website attractive and beautiful.

   According to the statistics performed by W3Techs, WordPress is the most reliable website manager as compared to others in the market. Around 28.6% of websites are managed and powered by it.

2. User-friendly:

   Easy management and usage is the main reason why several users prefer WordPress from others. Once you have developed your website, you don’t require an expert to help you manage your WordPress account. Even a layperson with a little bit of knowledge of computers can learn to operate WordPress in a very few days. You need not be a specialized coder or programmer for this purpose.

3. Cost-effective:

   When compared to other website management platforms, we found WordPress quite cost-effective as it allows the users to choose from a wide variety of WordPress plug-ins and themes that are priced at different rates. And you can practically select them based upon your budget and usability.

   Unlike older website designs where you need to program everything, WordPress provides you plug-in- the pre-written programs that further help the users to improve the functionality of their websites at lower prices.

4. Create your own website:

   Thanks to WordPress, you can design your website in the way you want it to be. A wide collection of WordPress themes helps you to customize your website and change its layout and appearance according to your taste. And you don’t need to master this art as it can be simply done with few clicks.

5. A multi-user system:

   For large multinational companies, using multiple people to run their websites, WordPress offers you a multi-user system that can be run within your organization. This system comes with six different roles i.e., author, editor, Administrator, Subscriber, and contributor. Thereby providing you the authority to decide the roles and duties of different users.

How to modify your WordPress theme?

Are you surfing the ways to modify a WordPress theme? The actual process is quite easy and quick but you need to opt some additional steps to avoid any inconvenience.

The following steps will help you in changing your WordPress theme without harming the functionality and content of your ongoing website. But before that, it’s very important to clarify how the process goes on and what changes you will observe after modifying your WordPress theme.

• Post and pages: nothing will happen to the pages and posts of your website when you will switch or modify the theme.
• Basic information: basic information such as the name of the site and description will not be affected by the new theme.
• Plug-ins: the plug-ins you are using will function normally unless they aren’t connected with your ongoing theme.

Apart from these, below are the specific functions that would change with the theme:

• Shortcodes: theme-specific Shortcodes usually come along with a specific theme and if you modify the theme, these Shortcodes will cease to the functions.
• Widgets: in case you are using any theme-specific widgets, be careful because they will also cease to function once you have switched the theme.
• Homepage: some themes come with a specific homepage section. If you are using such a homepage, it will disappear once you have modified the theme.

In short, the majority of your data fabric won’t be harmed due to the modification of theme, but if you are using any type of functionality that comes along with the theme, you might probably lose it.

Steps to modify WordPress theme:

Once you have been clear about the occurring changes, let’s start with the steps to modify the WordPress theme:

Step 1: Install a new theme:

To start with the process, firstly, you have to install a new WordPress theme for your website. For this, the following are the steps you need to follow:

• Head toward appearance and click on themes.
• Now, click on the option ‘Add New.’
• Search for the required theme at WordPress.org. If you can’t find your theme, you can easily search for it by filling its name.
• Once found, click on the install button and wait until it gets installed.

In case you have a zipped file or have purchased any other premium theme, you can install it by uploading the zipped file by clicking on the Upload theme option.
Note: Do not click on the activate button until asked in the below-given steps.

Step 2: preview installed theme with the help of WordPress customizer:

WordPress customizer helps you to preview your new theme and look at its features before you make it active. This is quite beneficial as it helps in:

• Analyzing the new changes
• See how your old content looks this new theme
• To make the correction with widgets and menus, if required.

So, here are the steps to use WordPress customizer to preview the newly installed theme:

• Select appearance
• Click on customize option available in WordPress dashboard
• You would view the live preview of your ongoing theme
• Select change option available in the sidebar
• Thereafter, select the Live Preview option placed next to the installed theme

Now, the user can view the live preview of their old content with the new theme. To make any changes, you can use widgets and menus options available in the customizer sidebar.
If you are satisfied with the theme, you can move ahead to activate the theme in real.

Step 3: Activation of the new theme:

Once you have checked that how the existing content will go with a new theme, it’s time to make a new theme live. For this you have to:
– Select the ‘Activate and Publish’ option.