System Requirements and Recommendations
To keep your website running smoothly, you should carry out some tasks before installing a new theme (the full list of what to do may be more than documented here, depending on your server setup). A good practice is to compare the requirements of the theme you are about to install with your system configurations. These include (but not limited to) the following…
-
- Check that the theme’s requirements are compliant with your server configuration (php version etc).
- Check that the theme’s requirements are compliant with your WordPress version.
- If you are installing a WooCommerce-compliant theme, check that you have the latest version of WooCommerce installed.
- If the theme recommends any plugin, check the plugin pages and verify that your system configuration are compliant with the recommended plugin’s.
- If a recommended plugin have a demo site, check it out to help you decide.
- Backup your website before installing.
The best practice is to have a separate test server for testing out any new theme before integrating into your production environment (where your customers access your website). However, if this is not the case for you, backup your website so you can roll back, if needed.
How to Check your Server’s System Configuration
To check your system configuration including WordPress version, Database version, php version, and the versions of installed plugins, follow the steps below.
- Login into your WordPress website with an admin account.
- Go to Dashboard => Tools => Site Health.
- Then, select the ‘Info’ radio button.
You should see a screen similar to the one below.
Once you see this screen, you will be able to check the theme’s technical requirements. Click on the various tabs for the various system configurations.
How to Check your Theme’s Technical Requirements
Before you download a theme, the theme provider, such as wordpress.org will provide the theme’s technical requierment and you should check this information before downloading or installing a theme. If you already uploaded the theme onto your website, complete the following steps to check the theme’s minimum requirements.
- Login into your WordPress website with an admin account.
- Go to Dashboard => Themes.
- Then, select a theme
- In the screen that follows, select the theme you are installing in the ‘Select theme to edit’ box
You should see a screen similar to the one below.
Once you see this screen, you will be able to check the theme’s technical requirements and other information. If you don’t see the ‘Select theme to edit’, theme editing has been disabled on your website (by your server administrator, for security reasons. If this is applicable to you, you can go to the theme folder and open the ‘style.css file in the theme’s main folder to see the same information).
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of possible tasks to complete before installing a new theme on your website. You may need additional steps, dependig on the requirements of your hosting providers and other technologies running on your server. These instructions assume a typical server that is configured with minimum requirements, to run a WordPress website.