WordPress Themes: Where to Find and Edit Themes
Not all WordPress themes are created equal. Naturally themes can be edited but you can imagine that it is much to your advantage to spend time looking for a theme that is as close as possible to what you have in mind. The less changes you have to make the better. When you are logged into your dashboard you can search for WordPress themes but it is my opinion that anything you will find within the free database available on WordPress.org isn’t generally worth using. Those free themes will give you something to start with as you begin creating some initial content but in the long run they won’t serve your needs.
Some people spend a lot of time searching the internet for premium themes for free. “Pirating” paid themes for free is not only illegal its also dumb. Themes are not simple and the biggest reason you should buy them from their designers is so that you will have support. When I’m looking for a theme I first start by doing a Google Image search that best describes what I’m looking for. You may try a search such as “wordpress rustic theme” or “wordpress 3-column car theme.” Try several combinations and different words as you like. If I don’t find what I’m looking for I move directly into the best WordPress Theme designers websites.
There are several top quality theme makers. My absolute favorite is WooThemes. WooThemes has sold me the themes I use on almost all my personal sites and blogs. They go a long way to create versatile, easy to use and customize, professional looking themes. You can also check out ThemeJunkie and iThemes who I also have bought themes from.
Editing Themes
Editing themes is really something that is generally reserved for “advanced users.” It requires HTML and CSS knowledge and some PHP would go a long way too. This tutorial is not designed to teach you these programing languages. I will however give you a brief outline on the way these theme files work into WordPress, where they are stored, and how you can access them.
WordPress themes are organized in folders within the www.yoursite.com/wp-content/themes directory. To edit them you need to navigate to the “Editor” sub-menu under the “Appearance” menu. When the editor loads you will see a list of all the different theme files on your far right. Clicking on any of the files will open them for editing in the main editor window in the center.
All themes are different but if you are familiar with html and other basic programming languages you shouldn’t have any issues navigating to the file you need. Refer to the WordPress.org codex for PHP questions.
If you aren’t familiar with coding I suggest you be very cautious about making any changes.