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Magento is a difficult eCommerce platform, especially if you are a beginner. We suggest to consider how to install a custom theme in Magento and what default theme and non-default theme mean.

Kinds of the themes

There are two kinds of the themes which work on the online store platform:

1.   Default Theme;
2.   Non-default Theme.


The settings of the each of them are very important because the default theme consists of the base files which are necessary for the work of eCommerce store in general, and the non-default theme allows stylizing images and CSS tables.
Before the beginning of the theme installation we would like to remind that you must not change the files in the base directory because it makes the Magento upgrade procedure more difficult and problematic. The files should be placed on the following path: app/design/ frontend/the title of the theme/default and skin/frontend/ the title of the theme/default.


The theme installation

After purchasing the necessary theme, you need to activate it. You can download the theme files via the safe FTP connection on the hosting server or upload directly to Magento panel. Perhaps, you will need to activate the theme (in general this function is used in empty themes and you can see the example in the administrator’s panel).

As soon as the theme is activated, you need to go to the section System - Magento Connect - Magento Connect Manager. The error may be shown in the additional subdirectory. In order to fix it you need to check the subdirectory of the theme and the expansion, update the settings and save them. Then you should return back to Magento Connect Manager.

You need to go to the section called Install New Extensions and find the directory called Paste extension key to install where you should enter the activation theme key. After this action the Install button will become active and the monitor will be dark where the theme installation process will be displayed.

When the process is finished, you will see the theme in the administrator’s panel. But it will not be visible for visitors of the site. You need to activate the theme in order to fix it. You should go to System and choose Configuration and Design. You will see a dropdown menu in the design panel where you should choose General. This subparagraph means what theme is visible for the Magento store users. You should find the section Current Configuration Scope and Main Website there.

You should enter the theme title, the address of the theme and other data in Main Website. The interface has an intuitive view and every line should be mapped.
You should map the section in the following way:

Current Package Name – it should be left by default;
Translations – if it is necessary, tick the translation files;
The rest of the lines: Templates, Skin (Images/ CSS), Layout and Default should be left empty (blank).

Even if after the upgrade and conservation of all these settings the theme is not visible, then you need to disable the cache and update the page one more time. It is important to check the files names of the templates. They should not match the title of the standard theme or Magento will show errors and close the path to the files of the new theme automatically.

If you have any issues and don’t know how to install a custom theme in Magento, you can contact GoMage specialists on our forum or leave your comments in the article. We will help you as soon as possible.

You can try also GoMage themes which are developed according to the best Magento practices:

https://www.gomage.com/themes.html (https://www.gomage.com/themes.html)