How to Install an OpenCart Theme

When getting ready to start an e-commerce business, we can all agree that the products are the most important aspect to get right. That being said, the look and feel of the e-commerce site can also make a substantial difference in how long potential customers will remain on the site, and thus also how likely they are to choose to buy something from you.

Here, we describe how to install a new theme in OpenCart. Themes enable you to customize the look and feel of your e-commerce site. This guide covers how to install themes in OpenCart, both in 2.x versions and in version 1.5.

If you are still looking for themes, one of the biggest marketplaces for templates can be found here.

OPENCART 2.0 and newer versions

To install a new theme on OpenCart 2.0 and newer versions, first you must make sure you have it installed on your website. This can be done via Softaculous, but if you prefer to install it manually, you can do so as follows:

Installing OpenCart Manually

1. First, download the .zip file from their official OpenCart repository on GitHub
2. Next, unzip the file, and upload the extracted files to the site’s document root (usually a folder called public_html) or whichever subdirectory you want the site to load from.
3. Once the extracted files are uploaded into the site, navigate to the site’s url in your web browser, and follow the on-screen instructions to run the automatic installer.

Installing a Theme

If OpenCart itself is already installed, you can then proceed to install a theme:

1. Login to administrator’s interface.
2. Click the OpenCart extensions Icon.
3. Click Themes.
4. Find your store and click the action column.
5. Click Edit and you should see Directory list box which should show you the new theme.
6. Select the new theme and click enable.
7. Make sure to click the save Icon and the theme should be installed and activated.

OPENCART 1.5

The process for installing a theme for older OpenCart versions is similar to the later versions, except that you need to upload the theme files first.

1. First, download the theme files. OpenCart theme files are usually compressed as .zip files. To see the themes available directly from OpenCart, you can visit their Extension Store.
2. Next, extract the .zip archive, and upload the extracted folder and it’s contents to the site’s document root, or whichever subdirectory the site itself loads from.
3. There may be several directories in the theme’s .zip archive. Make sure to upload all of these to the OpenCart site’s directory.
4. Once the files are uploaded, login to your site as the administrator
5. On the top menu bar, click System, and then click Settings.
6. Locate your store, and then in the Action column, click Edit.
7. Click the Store tab.
8. In the Template list box, select the new theme and Click Save. The new theme is now installed and activated.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about OpenCart, please visit their official website.