testing various themes

Once the files for a selected theme have been downloaded to my severe, will they be completely applied when the theme is “activated” without me having to make any additional code settings?

In most cases, yes – although it does depend on the theme. Some themes include a custom configuration step.

Will I be able to switch back to my default theme and have it completed applied to my blog without any of its templates being changed in the process?

Yes

esmi,
I understand that some themes will allow me to “customize” the tags that can configure different styles in selected templates. I know a little bit about using the necessary codes to do this, since I have configured the codes for the template for my own website, but I know that these rules still need to be correctly composed.

It is good to know that I can just switch back and forth to different themes without having to change the configured settings for each theme in the process.

I’ve discovered that the “preview” link will display my blog in the style of a new theme that I have downloaded to my remote server, so that will enable me to test the actual appearance of my blog’s templates in the new thematic style. That is great! That is what I want to do.

One more question: what effect does my blog’s theme have on its rating with various search engines?

Thanks for your answer to my questions. You have been very helpful.

I’d say that the theme is probably responsible for 33% of your SEO, so choose a theme that makes good use of structured headings (as opposed to just bold text) and avoids the use of layout tables. The remaining 67% is down to your posts – the quality of the content and how you structure them.

I downloaded the Artemis theme and previewed it with my blog. It doesn’t seem to display the complete tree for the headings of my Category titles. These are well displayed in the Default theme. I assume that I would have to add some additional codes to the sidebar template in order to get a more complete listing of these headings. I’m not sure what code/rules would have to be added to produce such a list. I think that these headings may help to attract viewers and participants, so they should be displayed. I’m going to try to provide high quality content that viewers will find to be interesting and thought provoking. We’ll see if I can do that. One comment seems to indicate that I have been somewhat successful in doing this with one viewer. Thanks for your answer to my question. I assume that various search engines will note the headings of my comments, and these might improve their rankings. That is why I want the headings for my Categories to be completely cited. Thanks again for your help with this.