Installation Guide

Welcome to my theme installation guide! Applying a theme to your blog is a fairly straightforward process that should only take a few minutes. This process can only be done on desktop. Let's get started!

Before we begin

There are two things we need to do first to prepare for a theme install.

Enable the "Custom Theme" option

By default, your blog's custom theme is turned off. Unless you have an older blog, or you've used custom themes before on this blog, you'll want to make sure this is turned on.

1. Go to your blog's settings.

   Start at your dashboard, then click Settings. In the right sidebar, you'll see a section called Blogs with a list of your blogs below it. Click on the blog whose theme you want to edit.

2. Make sure the "Enable custom theme" button is on.

   It's under the Custom Theme heading near the top of the settings.

   

Pick your installation method

There are two different ways you can install themes. You can use the Theme Garden's one-click install, or you can do it the old-fashioned way by using the theme's source code manually.

1. Theme Garden method

   This is best for people who want something quick, easy, and foolproof. All of my themes are available for install on the Theme Garden and provide this option. The theme will automatically be installed on your blog, and your code will automatically update every time I push out a new feature or bug fix.

2. Source code method

   This is better for people who want more control over their blog's code. You copy and paste the HTML into your theme's code editor and save your changes. This is only slightly more complicated, but it means your theme will be unattached from the Theme Garden. You will not get automatic updates and you'll have to update your code manually to receive bug fixes. Some people will prefer this, because they don't want their theme's code to change without their knowledge.

Now that we've got that covered, let's get started!

Theme Garden method

There are a couple of different ways we can do this, so pick whichever you want. They all have the same result!

From the Theme Garden page

This option works for all of my currently available themes.

1. Find a theme on the Theme Garden.

   You can either go to the Theme Garden homepage and search for the theme you want to use, or you can go to my list of themes, choose the one you want, click the More Info link on that theme, then click the Install Theme button. The page you're on should have a URL that starts with tumblr.com/theme/[NUMBER].

2. Click on the Install button in the top-right corner.

3. In the pop-up, select the blog you'd like to use, then click the Install button again.

4. Your browser will redirect to that blog with the new theme installed.

   Sometimes the install does not happen immediately, so wait 30-60 seconds and then refresh your page.

5. Congrats! Your theme is installed.

   To start customizing your theme's options, click the Edit appearance button in the top-right corner. It's the one that looks like an art palette with paint on it. Then you're ready to jump to the Customize your theme section below.

From your blog's theme editor

This option only works for Ocular and Chirp.

1. Go to your blog's settings.

   Start at your dashboard, then click Settings. In the right sidebar, you'll see a section called Blogs with a list of your blogs below it. Click on the blog whose theme you want to edit.

2. Under the Custom Theme section, click the Edit theme button.

3. Alternatively, go to your blog's theme editor with the direct URL.

   Go to tumblr.com/customize/[BLOG NAME] to open your blog's theme editor.

   For example, if I wanted to customize this blog, I would go to tumblr.com/customize/rachaelthemes.

4. Towards the top, click the Browse themes button.

   It's above your Appearance Options and has an eye icon next to it.

5. Use the search feature to search for the theme you want.

   Type "Ocular" or "Chirp" and select the theme made by @rachaels.

6. Click the Use button in the top-right corner of the sidebar.

7. Congrats! Your theme is installed.

   Since you're already in the theme editor, you can jump to the Customize your theme section below.

Source code method

This option works for all of my currently available themes, as well as my retired themes.

Open the theme editor for your blog

1. Go to your blog's settings.

   Start at your dashboard, then click Settings. In the right sidebar, you'll see a section called Blogs with a list of your blogs below it. Click on the blog whose theme you want to edit.

2. Under the Custom Theme section, click the Edit theme button.

3. Alternatively, go to your blog's theme editor with the direct URL.

   Go to tumblr.com/customize/[BLOG NAME] to open your blog's theme editor.

   For example, if I wanted to customize this blog, I would go to tumblr.com/customize/rachaelthemes.

4. Towards the top of the sidebar on the left, click "Edit HTML"

   This should make the sidebar bigger and show your blog's current HTML content.

5. Delete all of the HTML content on your blog.

   To do this, click anywhere in the HTML to set your cursor, press CTRL + A on Windows or CMD + A on Mac to select all of the HTML content, and then delete the content.

Copy and paste the theme code

1. In a new tab, go to the source code of theme you want to use.

   Using a new browser tab, go to my list of themes, choose the one you want, click the More Info link on that theme, then click the Source Code button. It should redirect you to a GitHub URL for an HTML file.

2. Get the raw code of the HTML file.

   On the right side of the screen, just above where the code starts, click on the Raw button.

3. Copy all of the HTML in the raw code file.

   To do this, press CTRL + A on Windows or CMD + A on Mac to highlight all of the HTML content. Either right-click the highlighted content and select Copy, or press CTRL + C on Windows or CMD + C on Mac to copy.

4. Go back to the theme editor tab and paste the content.

   In the empty HTML editor in your blog's theme editor, either right-click the empty space and select Paste, or click anywhere in the empty space to set your cursor and press CTRL + V on Windows or CMD + V on Mac to paste.

Update and save changes

1. Update the preview by clicking the green Update Preview button.

   Wait for it to load, then check the preview to make sure the theme looks correct.

2. Save your changes by clicking the blue Save button.

3. Press the left arrow in the top-left corner to go back to the theme options.

4. Congrats! Your theme is installed.

   Since you're already in the theme editor, you can jump to the Customize your theme section below.

Customize your theme

1. Make sure you're editing the Theme Options, not Appearance Options.

   There are two types of settings in the theme editor: Appearance Options and Theme Options. The Apperance Options are used to edit your internal Tumblr appearances (what you see when you open your blog within Tumblr). The Theme Options are the options created to specifically edit your blog's theme.

2. If an option isn't working, try turning it off and on again.

   Tumblr's boolean (on/off) theme options are notoriously buggy right after you install your theme. For options like endless scroll, show post source, etc. you may need to toggle the option off and on again (or on and off again, depending on what you want the setting to be) in order to get the setting to actually work as intended.

3. Use your theme's user guide if you get stuck.

   Go to rachaelthemes.com/[THEME NAME]/guide to read the user guide, or find the user guide by going to my themes page and click the User Guide button next to the theme you're using.

4. Run into an issue? Use the theme recovery page.

   Go to Tumblr's Theme Recovery page and select your blog, then click View backups. Find the backup you want to go back to and click Revert. Your theme should go back to how it was before!

If you have any questions, please check out my help desk. Thanks for using my themes!