What is a Drupal Theme & How it can be installed?

Drupal is the second most recognized content management system in the market and has plenty of benefits. It guides in the development of a powerful, complex, and fast-loading web applications & websites without the need of learning how to code. Currently it is supporting prominent websites including WhiteHouse.gov, Oxford University’s website, Weather.com, and list goes on.

In this post, we’ll discuss the Drupal benefits, Drupal themes, explain the essential steps to install a theme in Drupal instantly to launch your site.

Benefits of Drupal include:

1. Flexible

Drupal has plenty of themes and modules present that permit you to change the look of your website as well as add extra functionality including newsletter sign-ups, social sharing buttons, and integrate Google Analytics. As per records, there are over 2,000 themes and over 40,000 modules to select from.

2. Open Source and Free

Drupal is open-source as well as free, which gives users liberty to download, install, and use it at no cost as well as contribute to it if you are aware of coding.

3. Optimized Performance

Drupal has been designed with stability, security, and advanced performance in mind so you can remain assured that websites developed by Drupal Developers will not only be secure, but also fast.

4. Community Support

Drupal has a huge community where you can easily find relevant support. There are also several other sites including Stack Exchange having tutorials, code snippets, and walkthroughs present.

What are Drupal Themes and How to install it?

Drupal themes control the look and feel of a website, but, there are several things to focus when working with them.

Installed vs Uninstalled and Default Theme

Themes are simple to manage through Drupal’s admin interface. When you log in and open Appearance, you’ll find an Installed and Uninstalled section. In simple terms, multiple themes can be enabled on your website, however, only one theme is the default theme accessible to your readers and users.

Administration Themes

The main concept behind admin themes is that no need of all the bells and whistles of main theme required to manage the website successfully. The key goal is to clear all the distractions and assist you with full site management tasks quickly and efficiently.

Steps to Install Drupal Theme

1. Add a Drupal Theme from a URL

·       On Drupal’s official website, choose the theme you want to install and scroll down to the green box showing available downloads.

·       Right-click on either tar.gz or .zip link and choose Copy Link Address.

·       Log into your Drupal site and open Appearance.

·       Click on the Install new theme button and you’ll be taken to the next screen. Paste the link copied previously in the Install from URL box.

·       After the theme is installed, check notification screen regarding successful installation. On this screen, select Install newly added themes to complete installation work.

·       Locate the new theme within the Uninstalled themes and click Install and set as default to use it.

2. Upload your Theme with an FTP

·       Launch your FTP program and implement the credentials shared by the host to connect to your website.

·       Locate the downloaded folder containing your theme on the left-hand side of the FTP program.

·       Drag the theme folder on the right side of your FTP program and wait for the files to get uploaded.

·       Once the theme is uploaded, log in to your website and open Appearance. Scroll down to the Uninstalled themes section to access your uploaded theme.

·       Check the new theme under Uninstalled themes and click Install to use it.