How to Change the Name of Your Wordpress Theme

I have come up with a lot of cutline-based themes. This means that the theme area of my test blog could easily end up confusing me–each one with the same screenshot and the same name/desc.

Someone else looking for this kind of information came here from Google the other day, but I don’t think s/he found it. So here’s how to change the name of a Wordpress theme you’re editing.

Changing Your Theme’s Name

Go to its style.css file.

At the top, you’ll see a section that looks like this:

/*

Theme Name:		BlogCrafted

Theme URI:		http://blogcrafted.com

Description:	An adaptable theme based off of Chris Pearson's original Cutline design.

Version:		1.0

Author:			Chris Pearson

Author URI:		http://pearsonified.com/

*/

This is the information you want to change. As you can see, I wasn’t too creative about a theme name, I just wanted to make it different from the others.

To change the name the theme displays under, you—not surprisingly—change Theme Name. Unless you’re making huge changes, it’s considered good form to leave the original author’s name. I did in this case, though if I build further I may just leave a reference to him in the description section.

For bonus points, you can also change the theme folder’s name. This is a bonus if you want it to match the new title. If you plan to use multiple themes based off one original theme, or even have them in your Wordpress theme’s folder, you have to rename all but one.

Changing Your Theme’s Screenshot Image

The second thing that will make your new theme look different in your theme lineup is its screenshot. Even with different names, a whole array of Cutline screenshots was very distracting.

Ideally, you want a screenshot which is either 300 x 225 pixels or 600 x 450 pixels. Or anything with that ratio. You’ll need to save it as screenshot.png and upload it to your theme’s file (not in any image folders it contains, but in the main file).

If you have photoshop, this shouldn’t be a problem. If not, here are some steps to make it using only MS Paint (which comes with all Windows software, as far as I know) and the internet (which you should have access to if you blog). If you have Linux or Mac, hopefully you’re familiar with your computer enough to know your equivalent.

First, take a screenshot of the page by hitting “Print Screen” or “PrtScrn” or whatever your button says.

Second, open Paint and in a new file hit Ctrl + v or click “Edit” -> “Paste.”

When saving, select the option to save it as a png, screenshot.png. Might as well start early.

You can also just create an image in Paint or a similar program using an image or the text tool. If it’s for your personal use, you can do whatever you want (if you’re releasing it, some theme distributors prefer a straight screenshot).

Third, visit Picnik a simple photo-editing site. You need to register for a free account, I had no problems doing so.

Then go into the “Photos” area and upload screenshot.png from your computer.

Once you’re in the editing section, select the cropping tool and crop until it’s about right. If you can’t get it to exactly the proportions listed above, get it as close as you can and then use the resizing tool to get it the rest of the way there.

Save to your computer (make sure it’s saving as a PNG file) and upload to your theme’s folder. Select the option to replace the previous screenshot. Voila!

Tagged as: Blogging with Wordpress, edit theme, edit wordpress theme, wordpress theme

If you've found this article useful, why not get new posts in your RSS reader or in your e-mail? Your e-mail will only be used for new posts and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Written by Ms. Crafty

Ms. Crafty enjoys long walks on the beach mountains, Wordpress, clean code, and (some days) Thesis. Her specialties include theme customization and blog migration. She also loves to write about ways to make your site better.