Normally, you can install a WordPress via dashboard. However, due to a technical issue, you might can’t install a new WordPress theme via dashboard. If you are experiencing this problem, you can try to manually install the WordPress theme via FTP by uploading the theme files to your server. If you still have a problem, chances are there are some discrepancies between the configuration of your WordPress and your server.

Following are three things you can check if you are experiencing a problem to install a new theme on WordPress.

1. PHP version

The first thing you can check if you are unable to install a new WordPress theme is the PHP version running on your server as WordPress is written in PHP. Today, nearly all web hosting providers support PHP to allow you install WordPress. The problem is, not all web hosting providers are care enough to follow the development of PHP. At the time of writing, the latest release of PHP is version 7.3.2.

If the WordPress theme you want to install requires higher version of PHP than the one installed on your server, you might won’t be able to install it. If you use VPS, you can check the PHP version by typing php -v on terminal. Or, if you use shared hosting, you can create a PHP file and upload it to the root directory of your website. Read here to learn more.

If you use shared hosting and find that the PHP version installed on the server is older than the one required by the theme you want to install, you can contact the hosting provider to upgrade the PHP.

2. WordPress version

WordPress always notify you every time a new version is released. You can also directly upgrade to the newly released version via the dashboard. Some themes might require you to use the latest version of WordPress, including the one you want to install. You can check the WordPress version you are using via the dashboard. The information about your WordPress version lies on the bottom-right corner.

3. Memory limit

This is the most possible technical issue that cause you can’t install a new WordPress theme. Some WordPress themes, including Newspaper by tagDiv, require higher memory to run. WordPress itself allocates only less than 64MB of memory limit. If the theme you want to install requires higher than 64MB to run, then you won’t be able to install it unless you increase the memory limit of WordPress. You can increase the memory limit of WordPress by editing the wp-config.php file.

Final thoughts

If you want to buy a new WordPress theme, make sure to read the system requirements first. Some WordPress themes require higher system requirements, especially the one with additional components like theme panel. If you still unable to install your theme after changing three things above, also check the web server (Apache or Nginx) and the DBMS (MySQL) versions.