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Guide: How to install a WordPress Blog Theme

December 13, 2015 by admin 4 Comments

If you are a new blogger, it is essential you know about wordpress website themes and how to install one on your blog. Installing a theme on a word press website is not hard at all and I will give you a detailed tutorial and guide below.

However if you are searching for a Full tutorial on how to install and start a wordpress blog then please check out his tech blog post here.

Installing a good wordpress website premuim theme can create a lot of trust in your blog audience and you are much more likely to get repeat viewers/subscribers if you back it up with good and interesting content and relevant pics on your blog.

For those who are entirely new to this:

What is a WordPress theme?

It’s essentially is a way to “skin” your blog. You could say its like a dress, you change the dress and the blog looks different. You could make your website look like a recipe blog, A photography blog just by changing its theme (design) in just a few clicks. It can also be called as a template or premade custom design.

The WordPress Theme Directory is the official site for WordPress Free themes. There are Custom designers or programmers can charge $500 and upwards for a design, while you can get pre made designs for as low as $10 for a WP design , or annual memberships that are as low as $79 for 80 + premium themes or then it can also go as high as $250 a Wp Theme.

The theme as such merely changes the look and design of the blog and not how the WordPress-CMS works.

Installing or Adding New and Paid WordPressThemes using the Admin Dashboard

You can download Themes directly to your blog by using the Add New Themes option in the Appearance sub-menu within your word-press.

1. Log in to the WordPress Administration Panels.

2. Select the Appearance panel, then Themes.

3. Select Add New.

4. Either use the Search or Filter options to locate a free or paid theme you uploaded that you would like to use.

5. Click on the Preview link to preview the Theme or the Install Now link to upload the Theme to your blog,

6. Or use the Upload link in the top links row to upload a zipped copy of a Theme that you have previously downloaded to your machine

Paid Vs Free themes

WordPress currently comes with three themes that you can install from within the blog and their default themes are Twenty Fifteen theme, and previous defaults Twenty Fourteen theme and Twenty Thirteen theme.

I recommend Three paid themes providers that I know are of value in price and quality as I have been using them for 8+ years now. They are listed below

Solostream themes – www.solostream.com

They are very robust themes that are built from the ground up using proper wp architecture and hardly need any updating , besides they have very flexible advertising options to use banners or affiliate links –which you can turn off if you don’t want to use. They look very professional and can integrate all your social media buttons

Elegant themes – www.elegantthemes.com

They are premium themes and have the best pricing on the internet for wordpress themes, you just pay $79 and you can use any of their 80+ WP premium themes on how many ever blogs you want. They have a wide range of themes from e-stores , to recipe blogs themes and much more.

Themeforest – www.themeforest.net

They not only have themes but also have a vast collection of wp plugins and scripts. They also have templates for free blogging platforms like , blogpsot , tumblr any many more. They have templates starting from $5 right upto $200+

I prefer to used paid themes, because they are updated much more regularly, specially if any security hole is found out , you get an immediate update. While free themes are not often updated and so can also break with word press updates and therefore break your blog.

Installing new themes via CPanel or then FTP

To add a paid theme to your WordPress installation via Cpanel, here are the steps:

Most webhosting companies offer a cPanel control panel, and most paid themes come in a .zip or .gz archive. This is assuming that your theme-download is a compressed (.zip) file containing a folder under which all the Theme files exist in.

1. Download the Theme .zip file to your computer.

2. In cPanel File Manager, find and go to your Themes folder. If your WordPress is installed in the root folder of your web server you would navigate to “public_html/wp-content/themes” and if you have WordPress installed in a sub-folder called wordpress or named something else , you would navigate to “public_html/wordpress or something else /wp-content/themes”.

3. Find the Themes folder in cPanel File Manager, click on Upload file(s) and upload that .zip file from step 1

4. Once the .zip file is uploaded, click on the name of that file in cPanel, then in the panel to the right, click on “Extract File Contents”, and that .zip file will be uncompressed in your wp installation and ready to use.

5. Just login to your blog via admin panel – got to appearances themes and select the theme you uploaded and click activate. Your new theme is installed on your blog and ready.

To add a paid theme to your WordPress installation via FTP, here are the steps:

1. Download the Theme archive (normally zip file) and extract the files it contains. Do not change the the directory structure in the archive when extracting these files. Check if any special installing guidelines are provided by your Theme author in this directory.

2. Using an FTP Software – login to your hosting web server. Your hosting company should have given you this ftp login details when you installed your blog and created a ftp login.

3. Upload the Theme files you extracted to the wp-content/themes directory on your host server. Your this folder will now have different theme folders Eg recipe theme, elegant tech theme under this main theme folder.

4. Once the theme is uploaded to directory, just login to your blog via admin panel – got to appearances themes and select the theme you uploaded and click activate. Your new theme is installed on your blog.

Guide – Building a wordpress blog in 3 steps and more https://t.co/nQGKpA0Mm7 pic.twitter.com/SEosYW3lxa

— DigitalGrog (@undermarrest) April 20, 2016

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Normal Deal links below

If you want to know more about creating wordpress themes, child themes and architecture and programming of wpthemes then visit the wordpress codex website ß here.

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Good Digital Free blogger and word press premium designs

July 13, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Sometimes the best performing and earning money blogs ( wordpress or blogger ) are just simple design blogs with great content. WordPress themes make a difference to your look of the blog. If you are looking for a design like this, then look no further , while browsing i came across a website today that just provides that

This website provide simple wordpress and blogger themes that are good to look at ( looks premuim) and got the right design for your AdSense or affiliate ads.

WordPress and Blogger Free Premuim Themes

And Yes these “wordpress and Blogger Premuim themes are free”, they keep it free by having the theme design encrypted and links already present in the themes. If you want a a theme without theses links or encryption so that you can modify the design you can pay $19.95 and get this Link and encryption free version.

This is what the websites ( http://themepix.com/ ) say

Buy ProDesign theme without footer links and encryption free.
You can use the purchased theme in your unlimited domains/sites without any restrictions.

Free Premuim Blogger templates

They also got a good range of free blogger templates at their linked website http://www.deluxetemplates.net/category/blogger-template

5 Signs Your Website Needs a Redesign

May 22, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Your website is often the first impression that people will get of your brand or business and while revamping it may be a significant time and cost expense, sometimes it’s not something that you can afford to delay. How do you know when it’s time to redesign your website? Read on to find out.

It Isn’t Mobile Friendly

Mobile matters. At the TechCrunch conference in early 2014, Yahoo! Chief Executive Marissa Mayer told attendees that their mobile users are already up 43% from this time last year and they expect that figure to keep climbing in 2014 to a point where they will potentially outnumber desk top users before the end of the year.

There Is No Social Media Integration

Including links to your social media platforms from your website is the absolute minimum you should be doing. Ideally, you should be making it as easy as possible for people to share your content across Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Incorporating social sharing tools enables your customers to help spread the word about your business organically across their digital profiles.

It’s Cumbersome to Update

Do you still have to email off changes to your web design team or allocate half a day just to upload a new special to your website? Websites were never meant to be a static medium and regularly updating your content means that your site visitors have a reason to keep coming back. If you can’t update it yourself or your content management system is hard to use, it may be time to consider and upgrade.

You’re Losing Traffic

Have your website visitors declined in recent years, or do they leave your site quickly after finding it? It may be that your content – or your whole design – needs to be updated. Things that you can immediately do to remedy this is do an audit of your website and remove anything that is obviously out of date – a promotion that expired six months ago or even held last year for example. Regularly updating your website with useful information not only helps with your search engine rankings, but also ensures that there is a purpose for people to visit – and revisit – your website.

You’ve Rebranded

This one might seem a little obvious but there are a surprising number of businesses out there who’ve updated their logo and branding but haven’t transferred the new look to their website. The same look and feel should be consistently applied across all facets of your business – if the website doesn’t match your Facebook page or what people experience when they come into your premises, it can have a negative impact on how they view your brand.

If your website can identify with any of these five warning signs that it might be time to redesign, you should start making plans and enquiries now. A professional audit by an integrated digital agency like Simple can arm you with tips that can help your current site while planning ahead to make sure that you’re maximising your online potential and staying ahead of the competition.

When was the last time your website was revamped?

Freelancer Not so good after all

September 22, 2013 by admin 1 Comment

They are mulling a release on the stock market (freelancer.com) , and i was also thinking of participating and buying some of their IPO stock , but after I checked my email this week and saw that i got charged $5.89 for nothing from freelancer.com, i changed my mind. I’m no more buying any Shares in freelancer.com if it lists on the stock market and just started looking for alternatives for freelancer to get my freelancing jobs done . Any company that has a sneaky tactic to charge you more and more fees, even while not providing a service can be termed bit off a rip off IMHO.

Not PayPal’s fault … just freelancer taking money outta my paypal

I had to do a bit of further investigation to see why i was charged when i didn’t even use their service in the last month or so. I found out after their last upgrade they actually upgraded my account to the Basic membership rather than the $0 fee account, which is wrong in my opinion , you just cant upgrade an existing no fee account to basic account which automatically starts to charge your account regularly for money when you don’t even use that account. .

If they were fair dinkum they would automatically change all the accounts to the $0 no fees account (rather than basic where users started getting charged suddenly) and then whoever wanted to upgrade could do so themselves.

Result:

I immediately downgraded my freelancer account to $0 fees

and cancelled freelancer authorisation to my paypal account so that they cant force bill me anymore. I can see many people going forward looking for alternatives other than freelancer who are using these kinds of tactics that lets down that trust of users and secondly also increasing and charging quite a hefty fee rapidly for doing transactions with them. They are services out there that charge less than 40 % of what they charge and I will be using them from now on.

I’m not telling that freelancer is not a good service , i have used them for my projects but when they do this kind of stuff it lets down your trust and you are forced to look elsewhere . Let me know if you have been a victim of the same predicament.

UPDATE : EVEN MORE disturbing

I got this email after downgrading … Even more P*** off now

You have successfully downgraded to a free membership. Your membership will remain active until Oct 21, 2013.

Virtual pass for ProBlogger Training Event

August 25, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Over the last 4 years Problogger has run an Australian ProBlogger Training Event each year and have grown it from 100, to 200, to 300 and this year to 450 attendees.
The tickets to this years event which is being held in just over 3 weeks sold out several months ago and so Virtual Passes are on offer for those who couldn’t get tickets.

450 bloggers from all over the world will gather on the Gold Coast on 13-14th September for the annual Problogger event.

This pass gives virtual attendees the chance to listen in to all 31 sessions at the conference (they get all audio files to keep forever) and see any slides used. Virtual Attendees also get access to two great webinars after the event where they can interact with speakers and the wonderful Jonathan Fields.

Sneak peek at some of the content from last year?

Here’s a recording of a session from Darren Rowse last year. Imagine yourself with access to over 30 hours of this! Oh the blogging joy. That’s exactly what you’ll get with a virtual pass.

From Little Things … Big Things Grow — with Darren Rows

Full details of what is included are listed here: http://probloggerevents.com/pbevent-virtual-pass/. It is the closest thing available to being there at the event and is ideal for anyone around the world unable to get to Australia.

Speakers at the event

Speakers at the event include myself, Trey Ratcliff (one of the most followed people on Google+), Amy Porterfield (Facebook expert), Tsh Oxenreider (founder of SimpleMom), Shayne Tilley (the guy who heads up all my marketing and site development) as well as some great speakers from the Aussie Blogosphere (most of whom are full time bloggers doing some amazing things).

Previous years

Year 1 saw Chris Garrett, myself and a handful of other speakers speak to a packed room of 100 bloggers in a small, cheap suburban hotel.

Year 2 saw 200 bloggers turn out to the Novatel to see our first event with 3 ‘streamed’ sessions running simultaneously. Timothy Ferris even popped in for a surprise interview

Year 3 saw 300 bloggers come to Etihad Stadium (or rooms at the stadium) with Chris Guillebeau and Aussie Sarah Wilson keynoting

Tickets for this virtual pass are $249.99

Get your ticket or virtual pass here

You can see the full speaker list at http://probloggerevents.com/speakers/ and see the schedule at http://probloggerevents.com/schedule/

3 Adwords Mistakes Every Advertiser Makes

August 3, 2013 by admin 2 Comments

Adwords. A double-edged “advertising software” opening doors and frustrating DIY marketers with its endless updates, changes and idiosyncrasies. Business owners frequently abandon self-started online ventures for a myriad of reasons; time doesn’t run freely, and the attention Adwords demands from would-be success stories seems like an entire department in itself. The failure to run a thriving campaign is not a short-coming of the system, but a disconnect between business owners who underestimate nimble subtleties of Google’s answer to old-school billboards.

How do you avoid falling into these same traps, as you traverse the shady world of “pay-per-click”, display and re-marketing? Learn from the following three mistakes, save a bucket load of stress and increase ROI.

Know Your Competition

Advertisers commonly rely on an underwhelming WOW factor or quick gimmicks to attract online customers. It’s easier to incentivise than run an on-going analysis of your competitors and while it isn’t politically correct to refer to your competitors as your enemy, the philosophies of Sun Tzu are relevant outside the lecture theatre. Draw up a database of top performing text ads refined to your top five keywords – what commonalities are leading them to trump you and replace your business in the 1,2,3 stakes? Don’t plagiarise, but draw inspiration from their tactics. Remember, landing pages form an integral part of a good formula. Keep it relevant.

Are You Irrelevant?

Click through rate; the bread and butter of the Adwords campaign and the most basic measure of relevancy health. A high CTR is symptomatic of a well targeted text ad; if your numbers are floundering, you need to review the conversation you’re trying to have with potential customers or clients. Make sure your ad includes top performing keywords within your niche, land visitors on targeted pages and don’t drown the ad in too many keywords – after all, you want to seduce audiences, not chase them away with money-grabbing.

The Mysteries of Ad-Writing

You’ll see a variety of styles and phraseologies on the internet, bribing, targeting or presenting as oblivious – a kind of just-the-facts gimmick that works for some verticals. Striking a balance between fresh, brief content and tried best practices to appease Google is fraught with difficulties. Again, your competitors serve as a reasonable indication as to what works and what doesn’t in a specific area of your vertical. Integrate the best ideas into a reviewed strategy and don’t forget to include a call to action beyond the typical Call Now. Instead, feature cheap or free shipping rates, a company guarantee or a specialist success rate. The goal of ad text is to draw people in and convert their interest into possible sales or contracts.

Of course, these are common mistakes of every advertiser. If you fail, accept that failure and move past those expectations; instead of shutting down your Adwords account, review current campaign setup and be honest about the conversion DNA of keywords, text ads, landing pages and site information. A little soul-searching will reveal a way forward or at least a route past your previous obstacles.

This post was written by Jessica Hannah, who is a member of the team at Search Factory, an online marketing agency based in Brisbane, Australia.