How To Install Magento Theme?
Though it is not hard to be familiar with its usage but it requires proper course of knowledge for the customization. For the creation of a new theme, you must have a good control over PHP (programming language) and if you are just looking to run your store with a particular theme, then you must know how to install it on your Magento hosting.
Basically there are couple of ways via you can install a Magento theme:
1.Via Magento Connect
2.Via Downloaded Theme
If you are looking to install a theme via Magento connect (the official Magento site, enriched of free and paid Magento Extensions/themes) then it is quite simple, as all you have to do is to pick up the key of your selected theme from Magento connect and paste at the admin panel in your hosting. This is it, the rest of the job will be done automatically after clicking the install button.
The main focus of mine in this specific post is to help those Magento users who had downloaded their Magento themes from other resources whether it is free or paid and now looking to upload it on their hosting. I will try my level best to present it as simply as I can.
The Basic Steps To Follow For Installation Of Downloaded Magento Theme:
1. Download the theme from any online resource.
2. Extract the zipped theme.
3. Open your FTP, Select the SKIN folder and copy it under Your_Magento_Installation /skin/frontend/default/, so it turns into Your_Magento_Installation/skin/frontend/default/ new_theme.
4. Login to your Magento store admin panel to pick up the new theme for the layout.
5. Some times Magento cache creates sorts of issues. In order to escape from the issues you need to disable the cache for that particular time. (To enable or disable the cache, goto System > Cache Management).
6. Carrying on with the installation steps, now click on Systems>Configuration and Select the "Design" tab.
7. Type the name of your copied theme in-front of skin input box and click on "Save Config" tab.
This is it, now its time to open up your browser and type in your store URL to see the new look of your theme. I'm pretty sure that its quite comprehensive guidance for the installation of Magento Theme. If you have any problem while installing your theme after following these steps please do let me know.