How To Install A Downloaded Magento Theme

Unlike single template themes (WordPress) Magento themes are quite different as its layout depends on four elements i.e.

1. Layout – Present is (app/design/frontend/your_interface/new_theme/layout/)
2. Templates – Present in (app/design/frontend/your_interface/new_theme/template/)
3. Skins – Present in (skin/frontend/your_interface/new_theme/)
4. Locale – Present in (app/design/frontend/your_interface/new_theme/locale/)

In order to install and integrate a new theme you need to follow few steps more than what you are accustomed to follow in case of wordpress themes.

If you have already downloaded your preferred Magento theme then here is how you can install and integrate this new theme into your existing Magento installation.

1. Uncompress the zip file containing theme templates (you can use winrar or winzip to uncompress files on windows machine or use unzip zipfilename.zip to uncompress files on Linux server)
2. Copy entire app folder of your new theme underYour_Magento_Installation/app/design/frontend/default/ so it becomes likeYour_Magento_Installation/app/design/frontend/default/new_theme
3. Copy entire skin folder of your new theme underYour_Magento_Installation /skin/frontend/default/ so it becomes like Your_Magento_Installation/ skin/frontend/default/ new_theme
4. Now, as you have added your newly downloaded theme in your Magento store you need to login to your Magento store admin to tell Magento which theme to use as layout.
5. Sometimes Magento Cache doesn’t let you see your changes instantly. In order to test your new theme it would be wise to disable cache for the time being. Go to System > Cache Management and select “Disable” then click “Save Cache”. Once you are done with all the steps Enable the cache again.
6. Now go to System -> Configuration and select the Design Tab
7. Type the name of your new theme which you have copied in your Magento installation in front of skin (Images/CSS) input box and click “Save Config”.
8. Optional – If you have downloaded a widget ready Magento template then you need to install the widget provided with the theme. In order to install Magento theme widget you have to go to CMS -> Static Blocks and click on “Add New Block”. Based on your widget installation instructions you have to add your new widget and activate that using this new widget block. Finally select “Enabled” and click “Save Block”. Go and select “Custom Design” Tab and in Layout select “Homepage” otherwise your widget won’t show on home page.
9. Optional – Home page of default Magento store is a CMS block so you have to provide custom code there in order to display something on home page. To do so you have to go to CMS- > Manage Pages and select “Home page” and in the content area type the home page content code which comes up with your new theme. You can change this area anytime you want.
10. All set. Open up a new page on your browser and type in your store name to see the new theme. Your new Magento theme is ready to be used.