Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Missing Themes
I've downloaded and extracted a new theme, but it doesn't appear on the Manage Themes
page. What happened?
Most likely you extracted the theme files to the wrong place. Open the file manager for your
host. Look in the
WordPress\wp-content\themes
folder. The theme should have its own sub-
folder in the tree.
Another possibility is that you copied the compressed Zip archive to your host without extract-
ing the files. If you see
<theme_name>.zip
in the file manager with no corresponding sub-
folder, you need to extract the files to the wp-content/themes folder.
Security Considerations When Selecting a Theme
for Your Blog
When searching the Web for free themes outside the WordPress directory, be aware that not every-
one on the Internet is a stand-up citizen and card-carrying member of the WordPress community.
The vast majority of WordPress theme developers, no matter the experience level, are fans and
friends of WordPress. You do have to watch out for that tiny minority, however.
The popularity, open code, and ease of use in making WordPress themes are attractive to those who
use the Web's powers for ill. With just a small bit of obfuscated code in an otherwise innocuous and
beautiful theme, your web server could become part of a zombie army of machines participating in
a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on some other website, or be used in a phishing
scheme to mine passwords and other personal information from your visitors—unbeknownst to
them or you.
Your safest bet is to always use themes made available through
the WordPress Free Themes Directory. The folks who submit
themes to the directory are members of the community, by defi-
nition, because they follow the community's rules.
Short of that, themes can be imperfect. They are collections of
programming code and, thus, can have bugs. What works right
on one computer doesn't necessarily work exactly the same
way on another computer with a different set of applications,
or a different set of WordPress plug-ins.
Whether the theme comes free of charge or is a premium
theme that you're paying for, be a smart consumer. Don't be
afraid to ask the developer questions before installing a theme
that comes from outside the traditional channels. The speed and helpfulness of a theme developer's
answers before an install will also tell you how responsive that person (or company) is likely to be
in dealing with support issues later.
note
Even the most upstanding mem-
bers of the theming community can
still have themes attacked. See
how Thematic developer Ian
Stewart had his birthday ruined:
http://themeshaper.com/
themeshapercom-hacked, and
how he dealt with it: http://
themeshaper.com/dont-get-
hacked-wordpress-security-tips.
