WordPress - Theme & Template

[jamesray50]

Hi,

If I decided to move my website to WordPress.org can I copy and paste or do I have to retype everything? And what is the difference between a theme and template? What would be a good source of reading material on learing how to use WordPress? Thanks.

[Patrysha]

You can copy and paste, the moving of the content can actually be done fairly easily.

There is really no difference between a theme and a template...just different words for the same thing, really...

As for sources...I always Google first and then ask my MomMasterminds group for help if I don't find what I am looking for (pretty rarely nowadays)...

[KristineS]

There are people who are quite expert in Wordpress use here. Vangogh has set up several Wordpress blogs for me. I believe eborg also uses Wordpress as well and I know there are others. I would just ask your questions on the forum and see what responses you get. They gang is pretty good at offering solutions and support.

[Harold Mansfield]

Hi,

If I decided to move my website to WordPress.org can I copy and paste or do I have to retype everything? And what is the difference between a theme and template? What would be a good source of reading material on learing how to use WordPress? Thanks.

Here are some quick tips:
If you haven't installed it yet here a quick tutorial on the 5 minute installation:
Installing WordPress « WordPress Codex - That entire page is all about installation if you need to troubleshoot anything.
I don't know what hosting company you are using but some hosts have one click Wordpress install. If yours does, then that makes it even easier.

Theme and Templates are the same thing.

You can copy and paste your content. Posts are for your blog posts. Pages are for constants that won't change such as your "About Us', "Services", "Contact", etc. Pages are also generally your menu items, although you can create a menu of what ever you want.

There are tons of articles, websites and tutorials about Wordpress. Your best source is going to be Wordpress.org. For a variety of video tutorials you can go to Wordpress.tv

When/if you have specific questions I/we can answer them directly, and direct you to the right documentation.

Wordpress comes with a default theme but there are 1000's available both free and paid.
Be careful using free themes outside of the Wordpress Theme Repository, not all are safe or coded well.
There are also many reputable premium theme makers such as Woo Themes, Solostream, Brain Gardner, WPMUDEV, and many others.

I find a good place to get business themes with a large variety from different theme designers is Themeforest

Feel free to post any questions. It may look intimidating at first. Getting it installed is the first step.

[BrassRing]

There is really no difference between a theme and a template...just different words for the same thing, really...

...

Not to seem argumentative, but that isn't quite accurate. A template is typically HTML code creating a visual style. A (good) WordPress Theme is a much more robust animal. For one, it includes dynamic code and allows WordPress functionality...you can't simply throw an HTML template into WordPress and have it work. Additionally, a theme offers functionality and layout options. Often, through the use of "short code," it allows one to place any of a number of built-in features where one wishes them to appear. Being dynamic, good Themes offer powerful, often simplified means of generating stylistic changes. This is useful for tailoring the theme to the site owner's branding.