In my last post on Network Marketing Tools I gave a simple tip for getting your blog indexed simply and easily on Google.
In this post, I’ll demonstrate how simple and easy it is for anyone to make a WordPress blog look great.
The WordPress developers have created something called a “theme” which you can install to make your blog personal to you. A WordPress Theme is:
“a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a weblog. These files are called template files. A Theme modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software. Themes may include customized template files, image files (*.jpg, *.gif), style sheets (*.css), custom Pages, as well as any necessary code files (*.php).”
There are literally hundreds of different themes from which you can select.
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Some of the themes make your blog look like an ordinary website. You can even get Ecommerce themes, so you can sell lots of products from your blog. I have a number of blogs and I’ve created different blogs for other people, and each of them is different because of the theme. One of the themes, I had created by someone on Odesk, because I wanted it to look a particular way.
How To Obtain A Theme
I have purchased a couple of themes, because the “paid for” themes are usually MUCH nicer, and more “secure” than the Free themes. I did have a free theme on one of my blogs, and it was hacked into by people who like to do malicious stuff.
There are basically 3 main ways to get a Theme:
- Download one of the hundreds of Free Themes,
- Purchase a Ready Made Theme
- Have someone develop a Theme specific to your needs.
Purchase Thesis Theme Here
My Favorite theme is one called “Thesis”, which is extremely flexible and easy to change to anything you want. The blog you’re looking at now has the “Thesis Theme”. Thesis is a “ready made theme”, except that it’s been developed so you can change it yourself. You can easily select the colors you want, the fonts for headers etc, the number of columns and where you want the columns. You can choose where you want your navigation bar, and add any Banner up the time that you want. Or, don’t have any banner at all.
You can purchase the Thesis theme from the image to the right…
How to Install a Free Theme on Your Blog
Watch the 4 minute video below, to see exactly how to install a theme on your blog. You can install your theme while watching the video if you like! Pause the video if you’re taking awhile to find a theme, then restart it when ready to take the next step.
Have fun if you’re just creating your blog, it’s a lot of fun. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or contribution to this.
Go to the following page to learn how easy it is to Add and Update Content on your WordPress blog
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Really great information Julieanne. I agree that Thesis is a great product – when I started I had to learn the hard way to look deeper than the “pretty” template at the various premium wordpress theme sites because it can be really trickly (especially for a newbie) to customize them. Having a good support community included is a BIG plus!
marquita herald recently posted..Turn Even the Most Unexpected Detour into an Opportunity for Growth
Me too, I started the hard way also. I used to spend hours changing the code to get it the way I wanted it:-) wasting my time of course, I should’ve asked someone to do it, who had more experience, but I liked doing that kind of thing.
It can be tricky for a new person, but it doesn’t have to be, if they come across the “right” training first, and not the hard stuff.
bye for now, Julieanne
I ‘m a WordPress fan to the point of being geeky about it!
It is so versatile and user friendly the possibilities it offers are endless.
I love it!
Hi Sadie-Michaela, I’m geeky about it also, glad to see I’m in good company:-)
I also use Thesis because of the ease and a recomendation when I started my blog. You have given a great overview on why to use it and how to do it.
Joyce Edwards recently posted..What Happened to Lard?
Thanks Joyce!
As a developer and user, I believe Genesis is much more flexible than Thesis. I have developed amazing sites with both, but I think Genesis really grew leaps and bounds above. Some of the free themes that have been submitted in the past 6 months to the WordPress theme repository have improved drastically for user experience in regards to do it yourself design. Twenty Eleven is a huge example of that, and that is even responsive to mobile use. (Genesis recently also has responsive design for mobile users to be able to surf a site easier, but Thesis has not come up with one yet.)
This is a good guide for newbies to know why they should use WordPress and how to start one.
Nile recently posted..Has Blogging Become A Chore to You?
Hello Nile, I haven’t used Genesis yet, so can’t compare it with Thesis. Thanks for your feedback on Genesis. Have a great weekend, Julieanne
He Julieanne
Now everyone knows how to install a theme, thanks
Do you have any favourite sources of free themes?
Peter
Peter Fuller MBA recently posted..If You Had To Retire In 2012 What Would Your Life Be Like?
Hi Peter, a number of years ago, I had lots of favorite free theme sites. However, I haven’t done any research on Free themes recently. The one I found in the video looks good. One of the important things to look at when choosing a free theme, is flexibility. Can you add your own header, change the colours, and have the navigation scheme the way you want it?
Hi Julieanne,
WordPress is by far the best and easiest blog/website content management platform. Every one can build a blog in WordPress and make it seem really professional. I use thesis framework for my blog as you do and you can easily a great blog using thesis, thanks for sharing…
Kostas recently posted..How To Make Money With WordPress
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