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Have you ever dreamed of customizing your blog’s theme? Consider this paragraph a pinch, because you’re not dreaming. You’re wide awake, and you can do all of this and more from the Customize page.
Unsure about the difference between blog appearance and a custom theme? Have a look at our appearance options article which explains this difference.
Please note: Editing custom themes is currently only possible on the web.
Enable Custom Theme
If you'd like to customize your blog theme, you'll first need to enable the custom theme option. You can enable the custom theme option in your blog settings on web.
To enable custom theme:
- Click "Settings" on the left.
- Select the desired blog on the right.
- Under "Custom Theme", toggle the "Enable custom theme" switch to on.
Your blog will now also be visible at blogname.tumblr.com. In addition to the default blog view at tumblr.com/blogname.
Still can't view your blog at blogname.tumblr.com? Make sure that "Hide (blog name) from people without an account" in your blog settings under "Visibility" is toggled OFF". Read more about our privacy features here.
Choosing a Theme
Via the Customizer
You can choose a theme from within the customizer. You’ve got two equally-enjoyable ways to get there once you're logged in:
- Click the Palette icon on the top right corner of the web view of your blog (yourblog.tumblr.com).
- Click "Settings" on the left. Choose your blog from the menu on the right, then click "Edit Theme" or "View website" after enabling "Custom Theme".
From there, click "Browse Themes". Here you'll be able to browse through a selection of themes from the Theme Garden. By clicking "All Themes" you can filter the themes by a few different criteria to find a theme that will really suit your blog.
Click on a theme to see a preview of that theme on your blog. Then click "Use" to be able to view its theme options and customize them (more on this later under "Customizing your theme"). Once you're happy with your decision, click "Save" to save the theme you selected to your blog.
Via the Theme Garden
You can find even more themes to browse at tumblr.com/themes (also known as the Theme Garden). When viewing a theme in Theme Garden, you can either click to preview the theme by clicking "Preview" in the top right corner, or install the theme to one of your blogs by clicking "Install" and then selecting the the blog you'd like to install the theme to.
Regret changing your theme? You can view and select backups of your blog's previous custom themes by going to https://www.tumblr.com/themes/recover. Select your blog, click "View Backups", select the backup to recover from a list of previous versions and click the "Revert" button.
Third-Party themes
While we recommend sticking to themes from the theme garden to ensure you're using a theme that is safe to use, there are some other reliable third-party sources for themes. Check out these makers on Tumblr, for example! @codingcabin, @glenthemes, and @rachaelthemes.
Purchasing a Premium Theme
Want to purchase a premium theme? Awesome! Select a theme you like by following the above instructions.
Once you've found a theme you'd like to purchase, instead clicking "Save", you'll see a "Purchase" button. Click on "Purchase" to purchase the theme and enter your credit card information or click to use PayPal at the very bottom of the pop-up.
Once the purchase is complete, credits in the amount of the theme's price will be added to your account. After you've received these credits, select "Use Credit" to finalize the theme purchase.
Not happy with the theme you purchased? Contact us for a refund within two weeks of purchase. Please include your blog URL, date of purchase, and method of payment (last four digits of your credit card, or your Paypal email address).
Customizing Your Theme
The following options can all be found within the Customizer on web. To get to the Customizer, have a look at the previous instructions.
Appearance Options
In the customizer under "Appearance Options" is where you can edit your blog's title, description and avatar. Editing your appearance here is the same as editing it on the blog view. Most themes will display the blog title, description and avatar you set here (but not all). Some themes may have extra settings that you can find under "Theme Options".
Theme Options
Your theme options will vary depending on the theme as these are up to the theme maker. Any changes you make will immediately be visible in the theme preview to the right. If you'd like to save your changes, click "Save".
Blog Pages
In this section of the Customizer is where you can create, see and edit your blog pages. For more detailed information, have a look at our article about blog pages.
Advanced Options
At the very end of the Customizer you'll find "Advanced Options". Clicking on this will give you a few more options to customize your blog.
- Open links in new window: Enabling this will make all links on your blog open in a new window.
- Use default mobile theme: This is enabled by default and will override your custom theme with a special layout optimized for browsing on mobile devices. You can turn this off to display your custom theme on mobile as well. This is recommended only if your custom theme is responsive (works on different screen sizes).
- Enable Google AMP: Optimizes the way pages appear in search results on mobile devices.
- Truncate RSS feed: Shortens posts in your RSS feed so subscribers need to visit your blog to read them in full.
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Preview: You can select between displaying different posts in your theme preview in the Customizer. Your options are:
- My posts: This will display all your posts in the theme preview
- Sample posts: This will display a set of sample posts in the theme preview
- Posts per page: Select how many posts per page your theme will display on one page. Note that some themes may have infinite scroll rather than a pagination.
- Add custom CSS: If your theme allows it, this is where you can enter custom CSS styles without making changes to the theme's code itself.
Did you know that we now offer custom domains directly on Tumblr? Get a Tumblr Domain now to be the home address for all your chaos! Learn more.
Edit HTML
You can also edit your theme's HTML by clicking "Edit HTML" under your theme's name at top of the customizer. Read more about this in our "Custom HTML" article.
Creating your own theme
If you'd like to create your own theme from scratch, have a look at our theme documentation as well as our developer resources.