installing a new theme

Does your admin theme panel actually indicate that your chosen theme is, in fact, active?

If so, then while looking at your site press the Ctrl and F5 keys at the same time to refresh your browser cache and reload the page.

I have attempted to download a few themes from other sites and wordpress is not recognizing them as zip files. When the download comes to my computer I must extract it to someplace in order to save it. Then when I attempt to upload them to my dashboard I receive a message that it must be in a zip file. Any suggestions?

You just stated that you extract it? It cannot be extracted, or it’s no longer a zip file

You simply save the zip file somewhere, say to your desktop, and then upload that zip file – no extraction

This the error message I received:

The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.

I tried 2 different themes from 2 differnt sites and got the same message. How do I resolve?

I have the same problem with CodeCanyon’s Thumbnail Scroller (WP NextGEN Gallery Template) theme. According to the author “I’m sorry but the theme can be installed only by being uploaded trough https://FTP.” Upload it to the root directory. For this theme there’s a link for installing; “https://www.screenr.com/vbd8”
Hope this might help.

Did you unzip the file as it may bundled with other files and you may a theme folder

When I tried to upload after unzipping, I get a message that says it doesn’t recognize the package as a zip file.

when you unzip what do you see in the file

Intention of Good (theme name) xml document
FAQ internet shortcut
Template setup – internet shortcut

I do not see any files in there that are wordpress theme where did you get the theme.

btemplates.com

looks like they templates and not wordpress themes.
you can search for themes on this page click on themes

Thanks for your help. I found another theme and it worked!