How to Install a Prestashop Theme

Once you’ve installed the Prestashop onto your server and logged in for the first time, you will be presented with the default Prestashop theme. This is a great theme and it looks really good, but it doesn’t allow you to have much branding on your website. Instead, you’re going to want to add your own theme to the store and create a unique appearance that will attract audiences and improve your brand’s revenues on the store.

Here are the instructions on how you can install a new theme on your website. This will allow you to have a website that you just need to edit and gives you a chance to get to the finished website look faster and with less time wasted.

Step 1 – Template Package

The first thing that you will need to do is to have a Prestashop theme template saved and unzipped on your computer. There are lots to choose from, so take your time in discovering what template is best for your brand.

Step 2 – Log into Your Admin Panel

The next stage requires you to log into your Prestashop admin panel. Then you need to go to the 'Design' and then 'Theme and Logo' section of the admin area. You can then click on the ‘Add New Theme’ button at the top.

Step 3 – Add file button

Find and click on the ‘Add File’ button on the page to import a theme from your computer. From the theme installer folder of the template package you need to find and discover {themename}.zip. You need to click on 'Open' and 'Save' the changes.

Step 4 – Use Theme

Now the theme has been uploaded to your website. It will appear at the back-end in ‘Theme and Logo’ section. You can scroll down to select the theme from the shop section. You can hover the cursor over the theme and then you will find an option that says ‘Use This Theme’. Click on this button to use the theme.

What to Look for in a Prestashop Theme

When it comes to choosing your theme you’re looking for several things. The first is that you want to have a theme that will be responsive. A responsive website is one that will appear equally as good on a desktop as a mobile device. This can be really important as about half of all traffic will appear on mobile devices.

 At the same time, you want to have a theme that won’t slow down your website. For every second that it takes for your website to load on a browser, you’re going to lose about 7% of your revenue. Therefore, you want something that will load quickly.

Finally, you will want to have a theme that will help you rank well on Google and other search engines. If you have a responsive and fast website, this is part of the process. But you will need structure, keywords, images, inbound links and other elements to increase your brand’s rank on Google.

Final Word: How to Install a Prestashop Theme

The above steps show you how to install a new Prestashop theme on your website. There are also tips on how to choose the best theme for your website.