Changing themes in WordPress can be accomplished from the 'Appearance -> Themes' page.

Page content is courtesy of Wordpress.org.

Changing Themes

The Appearance Themes Screen allows you to manage your Themes. That means you can install, preview, delete Themes, activate, and update Themes. Two tabs, Manage Themes (the default view) and Install Themes, can be clicked to provide access to each of those functions.

A WordPress Theme is a collection of files that work together to produce a graphical interface with an underlying unifying design for a website. These files are called template files. A Theme modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software.

Activate
Select this to make this theme the current theme.

Live Preview 
Select this and you can preview how your blog will appear with this specific theme version.

To set up a home page, follow the directions below:

Process

1. Log in to your WordPress website.
2. From the top administrative bar, select Dashboard.
3. From the WordPress Dashboard, select Settings.
4. From the Settings page, select Reading.
5. You can select to display a static page, a listing of recent posts, and provide settings for both.
6. Click Save Changes to save your changes.

Static Page

A static page is a page you have already created on WordPress that you would like to use as a front page.

Latest Posts

The latest posts generates a dynamic page listing the most recently created posts.

More Information

For more information, please see the WordPress documentation on home/front pages.

All WordPress themes allow additional customization for end-users.

How to Customize

To customize, follow the directions below:

1. Log in to your WordPress website.
2. Ensure that a theme is enabled.
3. Under the administrative menu, select 'Appearance -> Customize'.

Customization Options

The customization options allow you to make changes to the theme options, then view the changed settings in real time.  

Site Title & Tagline

The title and tagline (subtitle) are text used for social media sharing and appear in your header. You can also change these settings from 'Settings -> General'.

The title and tagline are used on the title bar, the header, and the search-engine optimization of your website, so make sure these are set appropriately. 

Colors

Colors allow you to change the color of various theme elements, such as the background or header text color.

Each theme has preset color customization options tailored to its theme.

Header Image

Upload and crop a replacement logo for the site title on the website. This will hide the title text. 

Please note that your image should be approved by Institute Communications before usage.

Background Image

Upload a replacement background image for the website. This will override any background color or image currently used on the website.

Please note that background images should not be tiled unless the image is tailored for the tile format.

Navigation

This enables which menu should be used for the primary (main) and secondary menus. 

Please note that this requires you to create menus first.

Static Front Page

Select either an already created page (static front page) or a listing of latest posts as the front page of your website.

You can also change these settings from 'Settings -> Reading'.

Site Layout

Select which site layout (sidebars) is best for this website. Please note that this can be overwritten on individual pages and posts.

Breadcrumbs

Enable or disable breadcrumbs on certain page types on your website.

Comments and Trackbacks

Enable or disable comments or trackbacks on pages and posts. The recommended value is to disable comments and trackbacks for both pages and posts.

Content Archives

Configure how you would like archiving of posts should be displayed and formatted.