Uploading a theme

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  christabelblackburn · Member · Feb 17, 2015 at 3:15 pm

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  Hi, I would like to upload a theme to use on my blog as none of the available themes have what I’m looking for. I can’t seem to work out how to do it, WordPress suggests going to wp-admin, Dashboard and clicking ‘change theme’ but there is no such option on my dashboard, just ‘At a Glance’ and ‘Activity’. i tried upgrading to premium but nothing seems to have changed. Can anyone help?

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  megz0114 · Member · Feb 17, 2015 at 4:02 pm

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  WordPress.com does not allow you to upload a custom theme. If you move over to a self-hosted WordPress.org theme you would be able to there. If you were to purchase WordPress.com Premium or WordPress.com Business plan you would be able to customize the CSS to have more control over an existing WordPress.com theme.

  More information on uploading custom themes can be found in this support doc:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/adding-new-themes/

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  christabelblackburn · Member · Feb 17, 2015 at 4:11 pm

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  Ah I see. Thank you. Is it easy to move to a self hosted WordPress.org theme? (I’m an amateur) Or is it best for someone like me to stick to WordPress.com?

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  megz0114 · Member · Feb 17, 2015 at 4:52 pm

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  Oops, my fingers were typing faster than my brain! To use a custom theme you would have to move to a self-hosted WordPress.org BLOG (not theme). Moving to WordPress.org is a fairly painless experience. Here is the support doc that covers it:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/#moving-to-wordpress-org
  If you are unsure of your ability to do this, you can always pay for a guided transfer. A little peace of mind can go a long way!

  As to if you should make the move or stick with WordPress.com, that’s a personal decision. This link details the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org: http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
  There are benefits to both. You have more control over .org and can make it do more of what you want, more options. That means you need to have some technical knowledge and are responsible for backups. You mention that you are an amateur. If that’s the case and you don’t have the time/effort to learn more (there are only so many hours in the day) then you may want to stay put and let WordPress.com do all of the heavy lifting for you. Also, for the most part, .com is cheaper than .org.

  Good luck.