Choosing a Beginner-Friendly Theme
Many new WA members freeze at the very first step: picking a theme. It feels like hundreds of choices are staring back at them, and one wrong decision might break everything later. This guide removes that confusion. Follow the steps and you’ll know exactly what to choose and why.
Step 1: Understand What You Actually Need
You do not need the fanciest theme. You do not need the most features. You need something stable, simple, and predictable while you learn WordPress. A good beginner theme should:
- Load fast
- Behave consistently
- Work well with blocks
- Not overwhelm you with settings
GeneratePress checks all of these boxes.
Step 2: Ignore Theme Demos and Fancy Designs
Most beginners pick themes based on demos that look beautiful. What they don’t know is those demos require advanced design skills to recreate. That leads to frustration. Choose a theme because it is clean and easy to build on, not because the demo site looks perfect.
Step 3: Go to Appearance → Themes
Inside your WordPress dashboard, go to:
Appearance → Themes → Add New
Search for GeneratePress. Make sure it shows as “By Tom Usborne.” That is the official version.
Step 4: Check the Key Ratings
Before installing any theme, look at two things:
- Active installations (GeneratePress has hundreds of thousands)
- Reviews (thousands of 5-star ratings)
This tells you the theme is supported and trusted.
Step 5: Install the Theme
Click Install → Activate.
Once activated, your site now runs on GeneratePress.
Step 6: Do Not Install Any Starter Templates Yet
For now, avoid starter sites. They add unnecessary layouts that confuse beginners. We will build your homepage manually in a later lesson.
Step 7: Keep Your Setup as Simple as Possible
A beginner-friendly theme works best when you avoid plugins and extras early on. GeneratePress gives you everything you need to start learning layout basics.
Step 8: Understand Why We Chose This Theme
We choose GeneratePress for beginners because:
- It works perfectly with blocks
- It is lightweight and fast
- The settings are easy to understand
- You can’t “break” your site as easily
- It behaves the same on every device
This reduces stress and lets you learn with confidence.
You can switch to Kadence, Astra, or any other theme later. I use Astra, and I'm happy with it. But switching from a place of knowledge is completely different from switching out of frustration. This guide helps you start from a strong, calm foundation.
That’s it for now! Let me know how it goes in the comments.
Read → WordPress Themes-How To Choose Your Theme
Join FREE & Launch Your Business!
Exclusive Bonus - Offer Ends at Midnight Today
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
2,000 AI Credits Worth $10 USD
Build a Logo + Website That Attracts Customers
400 Credits
Discover Hot Niches with AI Market Research
100 Credits
Create SEO Content That Ranks & Converts
800 Credits
Find Affiliate Offers Up to $500/Sale
10 Credits
Access a Community of 2.9M+ Members
Recent Comments
24
Hey, Peter. I hope it also helps to read this. Yes, learning the hard way is sometimes the best way because we always remember how we came to where we are now. That now may still be in the future for you, but if you keep trying, things will become familiar and simpler than now.
Keep trying. Learn by watching others do it, and by playing around with it. Fear of breaking things is the main reason not to learn, especially in the technical world. I hope the next post(s) will make things even clearer.
Here we are! Installing GeneratePress and Cleaning Up the Starter Site
Looking back, I realize I should have used GeneratePress from the start. After more than seven years, switching required a lot of effort to fix everything and ensure visitors have a good user experience.
Thanks, John.
Good to know, and after year, I can tell you have learned how to stay with a theme that works, though you might have learned this the hardest way possible.
The good news is that you have learned your lesson, and now you can guide others.
One of the coming posts warns of switching themes frequently, for a reasonable reason.
Thanks a lot, Alice!
Yes, I paid for a theme because my friend uses it. And, now with the latest update all my websites are broken to some extant. I've already got Astra converted on one of my websites, I think, so I'll be moving to that in December.
Thanks, Les, for sharing your experiences. Sorry that your sites don't function or look the way you intended, and that can be frustrating. Let's know it goes with Astra. I love it. Easier to manage.
Maybe its a good thing, kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back sort of thing. Its time to use a better theme.
Yeah, sure, and we can create our own designs with any theme apart from the basics as well keep learning website building, over time. Thanks for sharing!
See more comments
Join FREE & Launch Your Business!
Exclusive Bonus - Offer Ends at Midnight Today
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
2,000 AI Credits Worth $10 USD
Build a Logo + Website That Attracts Customers
400 Credits
Discover Hot Niches with AI Market Research
100 Credits
Create SEO Content That Ranks & Converts
800 Credits
Find Affiliate Offers Up to $500/Sale
10 Credits
Access a Community of 2.9M+ Members
When I set up my first site, I was caught up in choosing the most esthetic theme I could find. Now I know better. I think we get so worried about not doing everything right when starting out. That's impossible. Take it slow but steady for the first few weeks. Don't compare yourself to others people's work or progress. Trust your instincts with your decisions. Enjoy the process.
Christina
WOW, this is a great message to me and to everyone reading this. Thanks, Christina for sharing this wisdom. We should compare and compete with no one else but ourselves, and that leads to improvement and growth.