This is purely optional, but some people want to make further visual changes to their site once they start working with it.
If you don't want to change anything, you can skip this step.
IMPORTANT: If you do decide to change anything – always make a backup of the unmodified file before you start! That way you can quickly “undo” a change that has disastrous results.
The look of your site is controlled by a group of theme files that work together to create a visual representation of your pages.
To understand what files you have and what they contain – go to your site's Dashboard and click on Presentation/Theme Editor. The theme you chose will be shown as ‘current theme’ at the top of the page and on the right hand side you will see a list of all relevant theme files. When you click on any of the files, the code appears in the main window.
By default – because your file permissions are set at 644 – none of these files are writable (editable) from this window. You are in browsing mode confirmed at the bottom and top of the screen.
If you want to edit from within WordPress, you first need to change permissions to 666 (either from cPanel or in your FTP program). Then return to Theme Editor and you will see you are now in editing mode – shown at the bottom and the top of the screen. You can make changes to the code in the window and an update button has appeared at the bottom right hand side to allow you to save your changes.
Alternatively – as described before - you can stay in cPanel or your FTP client after changing file permissions and make your changes from there.
Whenever you make changes in WPM – don’t forget you have to go out to the site and click the refresh button for the code to update and the changes to be viewable. Always refresh and check your site after making any modifications, just to be sure everything is still working correctly.
Customizing your theme files is not difficult, but it can be fiddly and frustrating work at times. The trick is finding the right file and piece of code for the change you want to make.
Although all of these files work together to create the “skin” of your site, you'll need to access and update some files more than others. Here are general guidelines to help you with some common modifications.
Contains code for the structure, sizing, margin settings and alignment of main elements on your site - headers, tables, sidebar items, nav and footer bars. etc.
Main theme file – each of the color ways for the theme you have chosen is listed in turn. To make alterations first find your color scheme number in the code and then find the element you want to change. This file covers all elements of the themes including colors used in all areas, headers, font sizes and borders. The first place to look to find an element you want to change.
These files hold the contents of your sidebar(s). For example, to change the order of elements in the sidebar, find the code relating to the elements you want to move, and then cut and paste in the order you wish to see them.
Spend time now browsing these files and identifying code for the main elements within your theme. Before you make any changes – be sure to complete the next task to safeguard your files.
Don’t be intimidated by making changes to code within your files to achieve the look you want – even if you're not a techie.
You simply need a degree of care, a logical approach, and some attention to detail.
However careful you are - expect that you will make mistakes. But if you’ve have backed up the file or the parts of the file you're changing, you should be able to proceed with confidence.
The “belts and braces” approach is to make a backup copy of the complete file before you make any changes. You can do this easily in your FTP program by downloading the file to your desktop and saving in a memory stick or similar external device. Alternatively create a new file in cPanel and copy the backup to store on the server.
Since you may be making many small changes to files, a quick and easy approach is to keep notepad or another text editor open on your desktop and copy/paste small snippets of the code you are changing. Make your change, view and refresh your site and if you don’t like it or something goes wrong you can quickly revert to what you had before by copy/pasting the original code back in place.
Whatever method you choose as a backup – it’s essential you do. Having the safety net in place will give you confidence to make the changes you want to make.