This tutorial is going to show you how to install a WordPress template on your existing website and make it look like the live demo preview.
If you have no content of your own on your site yet, please follow another tutorial on How to install WordPress template using dump file
1. In order to install install a WordPress template, you need to follow the instructions provided with its package or the general info at How to install WordPress theme
2. Once you have installed and enabled the template, you need to install and activate all plugins that come with the template using the info file that comes with the template or our tutorial at
How to install Plugins Manually
3. Move the "uploads" folder included to your "sources" folder of the template package to the "wpcontent"
folder on your FTP server.
4. It is a dump.sql file (the name varies depending on the template number) provided within the "sources" folder that makes your template look like the demo. Installing it (importing it into your
database) will remove all your previous content and replace it with the live demo content. If you are unwilling to lose your content, but make your site look like the demo, you can do this manually.
Please proceed to the next steps.
5. Make a backup copy of your WordPress database. The info on how to do this is provided by your hosting. *
6. Open the dump.sql file located on your "sources" folder in a text editor and replace your_website_url with the url of your site (e.g. http://mysite.com – with http:// and without / at
the end) everywhere in the file. Save the changes and import the dumpfile into your database (you should have the backup) using this tutorial How to import SQL file manually **
7. Now, if you preview your site, it will look like the demo preview. Open your WordPress and panel in a new browser window (click on "Update WordPress Database " and then "Continue" if you see them).
8. Now you need to open those menus on the left in a separate browser tabs that contain the data that comes only with the dumpfile, like "Slider, Portfolio, Appearance -> Themes -> Theme Options, Apearance -> Widgets, Menus etc:***
9. Leave the browser window open with all necessary tabs. Go to your database and import the backup .sql file with your previous data back using this tutorial How to import sample data file
10. Now all your previous data is back. All you need to do is to manually copy the data and settings from the tabs opened in your browser and paste them into the same fields on your existing site. Save your changes on each page.
*Or you can use "How to backup a database" at Understanding sample data SQL files
**prior to this, make sure your database table prefix is wp_ Otherwise importing the dumpfile will make no changes.
***these options may vary depending on a template number For more information, please see the demo below (based on template 33821, but can be used for any template number).
Feel free to check the detailed video tutorial below: