How to Install and Activate Thesis

Important: Make sure you’ve upgraded to the latest version of WordPress before installing Thesis!

Installing and activating Thesis takes less than a minute, and we walk you through the entire process in the video below:

Thesis is incompatible with WordPress theme preview functionality. If you attempt to preview Thesis, you’ll only see a blank white screen.

Instead of watching the video, you can follow these steps for a successful installation:

1. Download Thesis from DIYthemes.

   Note for Safari users: This browser may add an extra .html extension to the end of the download file name; if so, just rename the file to remove the extra extension, leaving its name as simply thesis.zip.

2. Log into your WordPress installation.
3. Go to WP Admin → Appearance → Themes.
4. Click the “Install Themes” tab, and then the “Upload” link.
5. Click “Browse” (button text and formatting may vary depending on the web browser you use), locate the thesis.zip file you downloaded in Step 1, and then click “Install Now”.
6. Look for the Theme installed successfully. message, then click the “Activate” link that appears beneath it.
7. You’ll be redirected to your new Thesis Admin screen, where you may or may not see a green “Click to get started!” button (this depends on your server configuration) — if you see this button, click it. If you do not, you’re done, and Thesis is installed!
8. Look for the Installation was a success! message, and click “Return to Thesis” beneath that message.

If you experience any difficulties with installation, please see Troubleshooting Installation Issues or get direct assistance via the DIYthemes Customer Support Center.