Please follow all the instructions carefully. If your blog looks messed up after you install the theme (widgets all over the place), don't worry - it happens! Scroll down to "The theme doesn't look like the demo" for instructions.
Recommended: if you have an established blog with posts, create a test blog and install the theme there first. Set it up with your information and then just copy/paste the HTML from your test blog to your main blog in Theme > Edit HTML. Then you wont have to deal with removing widgets left from your previous theme. If you have any codes (like Google Analytics) in Edit HTML, make sure to copy them so you can add them again later.
Download a backup of your current theme
- Go to Blogger > Theme
- Click on the arrow next to "Customize"
- Select "Backup" and download an xml file of your current blog theme
Install the theme
- Go to Blogger > Theme
- Click on the arrow next to "Customize"
- Select "Restore" and upload the xml file (example: Persephone.xml)
If you get an error, activate one of Blogger's default themes and then try to upload the xml file again.
If the theme is not responsive
- Go to Blogger > Theme
- Click on the arrow next to "Customize"
- Select "Mobile Settings"
- Check "Desktop" and save the changes
The theme doesn't look like the demo
When you first upload the theme to your blog, it wont look 100% like the demo for several reasons.
New Blog
If your blog is new, you might have to remove some old widgets that Blogger automatically adds. They usually go to the first available section, so that would be either the Menu section or the Header section.
Just go to Theme and remove the unnecessary widgets. The only widget in the "Menu" section should be the Pages widget (and a "Search Form" widget, if your theme has one); everything else can be removed.
And your blog will be empty, which is another reason it wont look immediately like the demo.
Established Blog
If your blog is not new, then you might have to remove the widgets that are left over from your previous theme. Again, this can be easily done from Theme. In case any of the widgets are locked*, this is how you can unlock them to remove them:
- Go to Theme > Edit HTML > click on "Jump to Widget" (the first button from left to right from the right side of the page.
- Select the widget you want to remove from the list.
- Change true to false in locked='true'.
- Save the changes and go to Layout again; you might have to refresh the page, but now you'll be able to remove the widget.
*Locked Widgets: If a widget is locked, you will not be able to see the "Remove" button when you open it.