What is a PrestaShop theme?
PrestaShop is a free tool for building online shops. A theme sets how your shop looks. It controls colors, fonts and the layout of product pages. It is like painting and rearranging the shop, without changing what you sell.
A theme comes as a ZIP file. A ZIP file is a folder squeezed into one small file.
Before you start
- Back up your files and database. A bad theme can break the shop front.
- Check that the theme works with your PrestaShop version.
- Do not unzip the file.
Steps
- Log in to your PrestaShop admin area. The address is a folder with a long name, set when you installed the shop.
- In the left menu, find Design. In PrestaShop 1.6 this is called Preferences.
- Click Theme & Logo.
- Click Add new theme. In some versions the button says Import a theme.
- Choose how to import it. Pick Zip file to upload from your computer. You can also paste a web address.
- Click Choose file and select the theme ZIP.
- Click Next step or Save.
- Wait until the upload ends. A success message appears.
Turn the theme on
- Stay on the Theme & Logo page.
- Find your new theme in the list of themes.
- Click Use this theme.
- Confirm if asked.
- Open your shop in a new tab and check how it looks.
Tip: If the page looks old after you switch, clear the cache. Go to Advanced Parameters, then Performance, and click Clear cache. Cache is a saved copy of pages that makes them load faster.
If the upload fails
Big theme files can be larger than the server upload limit. Ask Hostvento support to raise it. You can also upload the files with File Manager into the themes folder. Open a support ticket if you need help.
Quick recap
- A theme changes how your shop looks.
- Go to Design, Theme & Logo and import the ZIP.
- Click Use this theme to switch it on.
- Back up first and clear the cache after.