Introduction

If you have a WordPress.com account, themes purchased directly from us or Themeforest cannot be used.

The Solution

The theme upload functionality is exclusive to privately hosted blogs and sites using the WordPress.org software. This means that you cannot upload any themes to your WordPress.com blog (even if they’re available at the WordPress.org theme repository).

 

So what can you do, now you’ve bought a self-hosted WordPress theme?

Option 1: Host WordPress Yourself

Hosting WordPress yourself has several benefits, including:

  • Often cheaper – standard web hosting costs between 1.99 and 9.99 USD per month. Check out our Hosting partners linked from our footer below for great recommendations known for their value and WP compatibility.
  • Complete control over your content and website look and feel
  • Direct access to Site support – your host will likely offer support via phone, email or ticket and get back to you quickly regarding any outages or issues with WordPress.
  • Direct access to Obox support – We are able to provide more thorough support for themes running on self-hosted WordPress installs, whereas our support of themes on.com is limited to setup and basic styling questions only.

If you already have a web hosting account somewhere else, most hosts offer WordPress as a 1-click install in your control panel, or you can easily install it yourself following these instructions or our Secure WordPress install instructions.

Once setup, the theme can be installed under Appearance > Themes under the Install tab. See your theme’s setup documentation for a step-by-step walkthrough.

The following article outlines how to export your content from your wp.com account and move it into your self-hosted install:

How to Move from WordPress.com Theme version to a self-hosted version

Option 2: Get the WordPress.com version of the Theme

We have a handful of themes available on WordPress.com with similar styles and layouts to their self-hosted counterpart, including The Writer, Gigawatt, Personal and Handmade. If you purchased the self-hosted version of one of these themes by mistake, you may purchase the wordpress.com version from Appearance > Themes, then forward the receipt to us via our Contact link on our website. Once the exchange is verified we can issue you a refund for the self-hosted version.

If you purchased a different theme and do not want to replace it with a .com version, and do not want to move to a self-hosted install, we cannot guarantee a refund is possible, but please contact us with the details of your situation via our Contact form.

Note: If you need technical assistance with setup or installation of a theme at wordpress.com, please use the wp.com support forums. If you need technical assistance with a product purchased here or from Themeforest, please contact support via our ticket system. Direct contact via our contact page can address account and sales issues only.