Use wordpress.com theme

Automattic maintains a publicly accessible SVN repository of all of their (free) Themes. You’ll have to download it manually (I’d suggest using an SVN client, rather than trying to download through your browser), but here’s the Automattic SVN repo for Forever:
https://wpcom-themes.svn.automattic.com/forever/

Chip thanks, but OI am not following you on what “the Automattic SVN repo” is and how i get that onto my www.ads-software.com site. Please elaborate for dummies!

I am not following you on what “the Automattic SVN repo” is and how i get that onto my www.ads-software.com site.

Did you follow the link I provided?

Notice that it’s a list of files? Those are the Theme files. You simply need to download them, and then upload them to your self-hosted install, inside /wp-content/themes/forever/.

For detailed information about using Subversion (SVN), see here:
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Using_Subversion

To cut to the chase, and simply use an SVN client to get the files, see this post, linked in the Codex entry above:
https://mindsharestrategy.com/2011/how-to-publish-a-wordpress-plugin-subversion/

(If you’re using Windows, I highly recommend using the TortoiseSVN client.)

I downloaded the all the SVN files, zipped them and uploaded them in my themes section of my www.ads-software.com account, but the the theme seems to be broken. It uploads the screen shot and adds the ‘Forever’ theme on my installed themes menu, but it does not show a preview and gives me the ‘wordpress white screen of death’ when I try to activate it. Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea what part of the theme is broken or how to fix this problem? Any guidance anyone might have would be extremely helpful!

The theme probably should not be uploaded in .zip format, if you are installing using an ftp client. Try uploading the entire “un-zipped” version of the theme directory and its contents using an ftp client, and see if that makes any difference.

Example: /wp-content/themes/forever/all_of_the_forever_theme_files

[edit] clarification: “zipped them and uploaded them in my themes section” I’m not sure if you meant you uploaded the .zip package to /wp-content/themes, or if you meant you used the upload button in the themes section to install the .zip package from your desktop.

The www.ads-software.com theme uploader only allows you to upload a theme in .zip format. I uploaded the .zip package to ‘/wp-content/theme-install, which is the ‘instal feature’ under /wp-content/themes. I am unable to upload the unzipped version as the install feature won’t allow it.

Try uploading the un-zipped version using your ftp client (or the file manager in your hosts control panel). See if that makes any difference. If not, perhaps you had an incomplete SVN checkout of the files. I just downloaded the forever theme files and tried it on a test site, and they worked fine.

Before uploading the zipped theme files…how do you download them? I want to use the Forever theme as well and I went to the link Chip Bennett provided (thanks) that shows the list of the Forever theme files…now what? How do I download them?

Read the REST of the links Chip provided….. all the instructions are there

YOu can always right click on each file and save target as…. (at least on a windows machine you can)

You just need to save them all in a folder named forever, but, the SVN route is probably more reliable (as describe in the links Chip provided)

Thanks Rev. Voodoo…I was afraid of that. That link is much too techy for me. I’m going to try your way of right clicking and save target as.

I’m going to have to zip them after I download since the upload requires a .zip format. Still, this way is more comfortable for me.

Thanks.

Spoke too soon…not as direct as I thought. When I right click on a bullet item, it says “save link as…” And, many files are .php which are easy to save in a designated folder, but other files have more files in them, and those files have even more files!

Which files need to be saved and how do you save the files in files in files?

Need help.

YUp, that would be a problem. You can’t download folders…. you’d have to make that folder, and then download the items in it!

(note the two dots .. at the top aren;’t part of the theme, that’s ike a back button)

SVN is probably the way to go. Try to download tortoisesvn, and then use google to see if you can find a tutorial you understand. It’s not too hard if you can find an explanation that makes sense to you.

I created a folder on my C drive, went to the Forever url, downloaded each file – mostly php files, few folders had 2-5 other files in them, but downloaded all into the Forever folder on my C drive.

Then downloaded tortoisesvn and followed online steps. Seemed clear…too good to be true. When I got to the right-click on the Forever folder, right-click and select import, I get stuck on the repository url. It asks for the URL Repository and I typed in “c:AFC_ForeverFiles” and get the message “Error: Illegal Repository URL”

My other attempt was to compress the Forever folder and then upload it to install the theme. I keep getting a message that the installation failed because there is no index.php file…but there is! I checked and doubled check.

Anyone got any ideas? Help!

If you’re using TortoiseSVN, you don’t need to download individual files manually. Simply define a local directory, and point TortoiseSVN to the wpcom-themes URL. It will download the entire Theme in the local directory you created.

Thanks Chip for responding. I guess I’m not as techy as I thought I was cause I feel lost.

When you say “define a local directory,” do you mean create a folder on the c drive?

When you say “point TortoiseSVN” to the wpcom-themes URL, that’s where I’m lost…don’t know how to “point.”

When I follow the TortoiseSVN directions, I get the error “Unable to connect to a repository at URL ‘https://C:/AFC_ForeverFiles'” Just can’t figure it out. It keeps asking me for the URL of the repository, not the theme files.

What am I doing wrong! I’ve never used a SVN client before.