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Getting started

What you need

  • WordPress 6.5 or newer
  • PHP 8.1 or newer (8.3 recommended)
  • MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.4+
  • HTTPS enabled (for fonts, checkout, and Stripe webhooks)
  • WooCommerce 8.0+ if you plan to use an ecom theme
  • admin access to the site (Administrator role)

every theme ships as a single zip file delivered to the buyer email after checkout. installation takes about a minute.

  1. download the theme zip from the order confirmation email or the account page.
  2. open WordPress admin and go to Appearance → Themes.
  3. click Add New at the top of the screen.
  4. click Upload Theme, then Choose File, and pick the zip just downloaded.
  5. click Install Now and wait for the upload to finish.
  6. click Activate to make the theme live on the site.
  7. open the customizer or the new site editor and confirm the fonts and colors look right.
  8. optional: import the demo content from Themebench → Demo content in the admin sidebar. skip this step if starting from scratch.

prefer SFTP? drop the unzipped folder into wp-content/themes/ on the server, then activate from the WP admin themes screen.

Customization

most themes expose color, typography, and layout options through the WordPress customizer and through theme.json color/typography tokens. for deeper changes, every theme ships its full source: PHP templates, CSS partials, JS, block patterns. modifying them is encouraged. consider a child theme if updates from the catalog should overwrite the parent.

WooCommerce

every theme declares WooCommerce support. the ecom-category themes (Counter, Crate, Lookbook, Pantry, Marquee) ship dedicated cart, checkout, product, and account templates. other themes use the WooCommerce defaults plus minor styling adjustments to fit the theme palette.

Updates

updates ship as new zip files to the buyer email and through the account page. one-click updates from inside WordPress admin are coming in the next major release. for now: download the new zip, deactivate the existing version, install the new one, activate. settings and content survive the swap.

Troubleshooting

if a theme misbehaves, the usual order of operations is: clear any caching plugin, check for plugin conflicts by deactivating non-essential plugins, check PHP error logs, and confirm WP and PHP versions match the prerequisites above. if all that comes up clean, email hello@themebench.com with the theme name, WP version, PHP version, and a description of what's wrong. screenshots help. error log excerpts help more.