How do i turn my template into a theme

Hi everyone,

I’m new to envato and wordpress. I’ve build websites in Joomla but want to build a webshop now in Wordpress so i downloaded a themeforest template. So now i understand in WP a template differs from a theme. After searching the net i decided to ask for help. The themeforest template is a zip file. When i unzip this i don’t have another zip file neither is there a style.css file. There are other css files included but no style.css. My question now is: How do i turn this template into a theme? I hope i don’t have to convert all those html files into pages one by one… :frowning:
Some advice on where to start would be great.
Thanks everyone

As a WordPress developer, I can modify and create ( if I try a bit hard ) Joomla themes as well but as you noticed, it’s totally different system and you will need to practice at least 3-6 months to code WordPress theme. Probably, it will take another 3-6 months to code WordPress themes for ThemeForest ( different standards )

In theory, you will have to create every page again, it’s not gonna be easy as copy/paste. You can search the web for tutorials how to create WordPress themes, there’re lots of resources

So buying WP templates is actually of no use… A rip-off deal?

What was the name of the item you bought or a link?

This is the link to one of the templates

So this https://themeforest.net/item/effect-responsive-ecommerce-template/8293719 is not a WP theme and wil not be usable with WordPress - that will be why the files you see when you unzip the downloads do not appear right.

There will be a style.css files (may not be called exactly that) but as @ki-themes mentioned to (properly)convert this to a WP theme would require quite a bit of work.

Google might suggest some shortcuts but these are rarely reliable and certainly do not end up as clean, structured and usable as a dedicated WP theme from Envato

If you buy one of the WP commerce themes that are designed and built for the purpose then they are far far from a ‘rip-off’ and in many cases if they were built by an agency for a client would be worth thousands of $

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Thanks for the explanation charlie4282.
Please correct me if i’m wrong.
So if i understand it correctly than for the small webshop i want to build for myself i needed to buy a theme and not a template. I also googled the difference and as explained by a site, a template is for individual pages. So than to me it’s confusing/misleading if templates are promoted on a well-respected site like themeforest. Because one would think that buying a template like this one (where it’s promoted like a complete package), would get him exact the same as when purchasing a theme. This while a template isn’t worth anything when building a complete site/shop…

Not exactly. You needed to buy a WordPress Theme. ThemeForest is not a marketplace dedicated to WordPress, it has themes for various platforms, and even standalone HTML templates (which is what you bought).

Yes, a “site template” is HTML. If you click on “HTML” at the top of ThemeForest you’ll see the category where you bought that item. It does not come with any PHP code for integration with any platforms.

“Themes” are templates with PHP code on top of them for integration with a platform such as WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla. If you want to convert a site template to a WordPress theme you will be expected to write that code yourself.

They’re promoted just as equally as WordPress themes, Drupal themes, Joomla themes, etc. That’s because they are one of the major categories of TF, and plenty of people do search for and buy them (including myself).

Unfortunately that’s just a misunderstanding on your part, but you’re not the first person to make this mistake nor will you be the last. Some authors try to prevent this by clarifying on the item description that “This item is NOT a WordPress theme!” but to be fair the item you bought didn’t have a single mention of WordPress on it so the item itself is definitely not misleading.

Also, HTML templates are required to be a “complete package” here - they must include a full set of pages and be fully designed.

These templates are not worthless at all. Someone with fairly basic PHP knowledge can purchase a template for far cheaper than a WordPress theme, and turn it into a full-fledged online store very quickly. That’s why these are on sale, because they’re useful to a lot of people.

Unfortunately it looks like the template you bought doesn’t have a WordPress version. You can hire someone from Envato Studio to convert it into a WordPress theme, or find a different item in the WordPress section.

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Thanks for the clarification baileyherbert.
You are right. There is no WP metioned at all and this is a complete HTML package. It seems i had to do more research first. But i must admit it is a nice template. Fortunately i can code some php/mysql so i will try to convert it into a php webshop. It will take some time like ki-themes said but at the end it will be worth it. I hope… :slight_smile:
And if not i will definitely hire Envato Studio.
Thanks everyone for your contribution. I learned something again today :blush:

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In case of need, I’m offering services at Studio:

studio.envato.com/users/ki-themes

yes. Thanks for the offer