Just like installing a WordPress plugin, you can also install a theme. If you access to your wp-admin panel, you can go to Appearance>>Themes and search the official WordPress repository.
But when you buy a premium theme from ThemeForest or any other provider, you might need to upload the ZIP file. You can do it from the dashboard, but it’s necessary to learn an alternative.
The content of your website resides on its server, and you need to learn where WordPress stores its themes, plugins, and media files.
Having a strong command over cPanel can help you fix most of the common WordPress errors. You may also have noticed people struggling to solve an error like 403, 503, 404, 406, and many others.
Depending on the admin area of your website isn’t always a good idea. You must learn beyond the primary use of WordPress.
In this tutorial, you’re going to learn the use of cPanel to install a custom WordPress theme.
Where Do You Need to Upload the Theme File
Going through cPanel, again and again, makes it easy for you grasp every possible option. Starting can be difficult, but you will love it after a while.
If you’re scared of breaking your website, it’s necessary to back up the content and database. You can either use a plugin or do it manually.
If you don’t know, cPanel has the full backup option, but it’s helpful only if you host only one website on your web hosting server.
For now, let me start the process to install a WordPress theme.
Step 1:
As usual, you need to open cPanel and search for the file manager. Depending on your web hosting company, you might get confused because of not seeing the same cPanel layout.
Don’t worry, every company uses a different cPanel design template. You might not see the exact file manager, but you can find it.
Step 2:
As I am sure you know, the public_html directory consists of all of your website’s files and folders. If you see the home directory, make sure you open the public_html from the left-hand sidebar.
You can easily see the wp-content folder where all of your site’s content is available, open it.
Step 3:
The media files, themes, and plugins reside here. Click on the themes folder.
Step 4:
You can see all the active and non-active WordPress theme present on your site currently. To install a new theme, you have to upload the ZIP file, which you got after buying the theme from any third-party company.
Click on the Upload link showing on the cPanel’s navigation menu.
Step 5:
A new tab opens, where you can see a button to select the file from your computer. Click on Select File and pick the file to upload.
Depending on the size of the theme and your internet speed, the process gets completed. Go back to the previous directory.
Step 6:
Refresh the page, and you can see the ZIP file. Right-click and choose the Extract option.
A popup appears to show you the path of the directory, where you’re going to extract the file. If you upload the theme somewhere else, you can fill in the public_html/wp-content/themes path to send the theme name folder here.
Now, you can see another popup showing the extraction process, click on close.
Step 7:
Refresh the page, and you can see a folder with the theme’s name.
Congrats, you have successfully installed a WordPress theme using cPanel. To activate, you need to use the admin panel.
I Hope it wasn’t as Hard as You Thought
Sometimes, dealing with WordPress files can be overwhelming, that’s why it’s essential to back up the website and its database.
Restoring a website is easy. For WordPress beginners, learning basics are suggested, but sometimes, a wrong move can ruin everything.
And you know, the WordPress theme controls the layout of your site, if you break it, the design doesn’t look good. So, while uploading, take precautions.
Conclusion
Remembering about the first time use of cPanel can be scary. But once you learn the file structure of WordPress, you can upload all the custom products in no time.
Nowadays, people are trying custom themes for a better user experience, installing the theme via cPanel is the perfect solution.
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