How to Find and Install a WordPress Theme

Now that you've made the wise decision to host your blog on WordPress, what's next?

The next item on your to-do list should be to locate the WordPress theme that you desire.

WordPress's popularity stems from the fact that it can be used to do almost anything.

However, in order to do much of that, you'll need programming skills that most people don't have.

This is where a new theme comes into play.

People with programming skills create theme templates, which can significantly improve the functionality of your blog.

It also makes customization a lot easier.

You can always use the default WordPress theme that came with your blog, but this will make your site look identical to everyone else's and will limit the functionality you have.

Getting a great theme allows you to use the programming skills of the theme's designer.

The first step is to decide whether you want a free or premium theme.

As you might expect, a premium theme has more features, but there are also many free themes that are more than adequate, depending on your plans for your blog.

All you need to do to find your new theme is a simple Google search for "WordPress themes," which will provide you with all the options you require.

You used to have to learn how to FTP files to install a new theme, but WordPress has made it a lot easier.

All you have to do now is save the theme file to your computer and browse to WordPress to install it.

Go to Appearance (along the left side column) and Themes in the back end of your WordPress site.

Then select Install Themes, followed by Upload.

Locate the zipped file you downloaded and select Install Now.

After you activate the theme, you can have fun experimenting with all of the new options available to you.