Back in the day, if you chose to use WordPress.com for your business, you could not upload themes and plugins to customize your website. Since then, this policy has been replaced with a new one that allows individuals to upload or install custom themes or plugins.
This is great news for individuals who are looking to personalize their business website or want to add loads of plugins that could facilitate a connection between their website and other communication tools. In whatever ways you are willing to personalize your WordPress.com website, here are some easy instructions to help you achieve desired effects.
Uploading Themes and Plugins on WordPress.com
Uploading themes or plugins sounds like a fun opportunity to customize your personal internet space. The only downside to this opportunity is that it is a paid feature and can only be utilized by people who have signed up for the WordPress business account. To get started, you will need to pay $24.92 every month to keep your business account functional. Before you say anything, keep in mind that this is a small price to pay for getting all the customization you need!
Once you are done with that with, you can carry on with the next steps:
1. Choosing the Right Themes and Plugins
When it comes to themes or plugins, you have two options to follow. You can either purchase themes or plugins from trusted third parties or you can create your own themes or plugins. Unless you are fluent in coding and programming, we would suggest you buy from third parties since they are better at understanding the industry and have better support.
Once you finalize any theme or plugin, there are certain things you need to be aware of. When it comes to themes, you will need to acquire the file to .zip. If you are opting with custom themes, make sure to convert the files to .zip.
With plugins, you will need to figure out whether it is compatible with your WordPress.com website or not. If purchasing from external vendors, you need to check the ‘last updated’ section of the plugins. Going through this piece of information will give you a pretty good idea of how frequently the plugins are being updated by its creators. Stay clear of anything that has not been updated in the past three or more weeks. The same goes for themes from third parties.
That said, if the WordPress’ free theme templates do not appease you or the third-party plugins fail to meet your website’s requirements, you can hire any software development company to fulfill your needs. It may end up being a costly option; however, it will provide you with a lot of customization opportunities that you may lack in the existing themes or plugins.
2. Uploading the Content
Now comes the part where you upload your selection. To proceed, go to your designated dashboard and spot ‘Add’ option on the left-hand side. Upon clicking, the said resources will be uploaded to your WordPress.com website without any issue.
But before you get on with it, there are a few things that need your attention. First of all, you need to go through the documentation or user agreement that comes with additional plugins or themes. This is to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Also, this step is necessary since it enlists all the uses you will get out of the plugins/themes once you install them.
Secondly, test every new addition separately. If you want to work with multiple themes and plugins, the best approach would be to install one thing at a time and test them out individually. Keep doing this until all your themes or plugins have been uploaded and tested out. In this way, you will be able to single out any problematic resource or any plugin/theme that fails to perform according to your expectations.
Lastly, when uploading and testing out new features, it is better to deactivate any previously installed plugins or themes before uploading a new one. This will provide you with a better testing experience. If possible, have your tech-savvy friends around you during the testing phase since some custom plugins may disrupt your settings or even break your WordPress.com website.
3. Customization and Setups
Using plugins or themes in their original state is an amateurish move. So, you may have to tweak some settings to unleash their full potential. To do so, start by putting your WordPress.com website in the maintenance mode. Then, carry on with your modifications and once you are satisfied with the final product, you can remove your WordPress.com website from maintenance mode and launch your website to put plugins and themes into play.
You may have to perform additional steps when you are dealing with custom themes or plugins. Since every custom product is different from one another, it is better to go through the instructions provided with the custom product to finish setting them up. If you cannot find any additional instruction manual or you are not sure how to set up a custom theme/plugin, we recommend getting in touch with the plugins/theme’s support department.
For custom themes, you can explore additional setup settings in the Customizer section. From your WordPress.com website, open My Site and click on Design. From there, locate the Customize option and adjust the settings according to your heart’s desire. For detailed instructions on uploading and setting up custom themes, please refer to this article.
Wrapping Up
Uploading themes or plugins from external sources is a fun way of personalizing your website.
However, doing so is not easy since you need to follow instructions, convert files, not to mention installing, setting up and running your finished product. Even with this last step, you are not truly finished since certain custom themes or plugins require additional steps before being launched completely.
Considering the thorough nature of this process, we have enlisted a few yet detailed steps that will clear up any confusion for you. We hope this article will help you in setting up your themes or such plugins that can maximize the functionality of your WordPress.com website.
