Title: Adding an (old) Theme not Working Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # Adding an (old) Theme not Working * [davidb52](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidb52/) * (@davidb52) * [16 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-an-old-theme-not-working/) * I just upgraded to WordPress 2.9 and found the theme I want: * According to the “readme” file that came with it, I was to unzip the archive and copy the files into the “wp-content/themes” folder. So I used FileZilla to FTP it on to my host. Unfortunately, it is not working. * This theme was created around 2005, so it may not work with WordPress 2.9. It is such a nice theme, however, that I would still like to get it working. Hopefully, it might just take a few small tweaks. * Any advice on what I can try to get this theme working? * Sincerely, * David Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) * [Dan Cole](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dancole/) * (@dancole) * [16 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-an-old-theme-not-working/#post-1327625) * What is the name of the theme? Maybe we could check it out and see what’s wrong with it (if it’s a free theme). * If it is in the [WordPress.org repository](http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/), you could use the back-end feature in WordPress to download and install it to your website. Look for “Add New Themes” under “Appearances”. * If by chance you did upload it wrong, WordPress also has an upload page for uploading and installing themes, which can be found by clicking “Upload” on the “Add New Themes” page. * Without any error messages or anything, it’s hard to say what is wrong with the theme. There have been quite a few changes in WordPress since 2005, so it could be a number of things. You can scan through the Codex for all the changes that have taken place in WordPress by visiting: [http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Versions](http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Versions). For each release there should be a lists of changes that have effected WordPress extensions. (Click on the far left version number.) * Thread Starter [davidb52](https://wordpress.org/support/users/davidb52/) * (@davidb52) * [16 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-an-old-theme-not-working/#post-1327718) * Hi, Dan. * The name of the theme is “Neptune”, from the wordpresstheme.com site. I had posted the link, but it didn’t show up in my post. Oh well, here it is again, this time in plain text: * [http://www.wordpresstheme.com/index.php?s=neptune](http://www.wordpresstheme.com/index.php?s=neptune) * I have also tried to use the WordPress Upload option, but I got the following message: * “Unable to create directory /home/virtual/site78/fst/var/www/html/blog/wp-content/ uploads/2010/01. Is its parent directory writable by the server?” * I don’t like to play around with the server too much, so I don’t know if I can get around this. (Perhaps I should connect to the host via my FTP software and manually try to create this directory?) * Another thing, browsing the WordPress 2.9 directory structure, I notice the “ wp-content/themes” folder has two sub-folders: “classic” and “default”. All three folders contain a file named “index.php” So now I am wondering if I should actually be copying the Neptune files into the “default” sub-folder (to become the new default for my blog). * [Dan Cole](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dancole/) * (@dancole) * [16 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-an-old-theme-not-working/#post-1327819) * Manually creating each folder would likely solve the problem. The server doesn’t have the correct permissions to add those folders and sub-folders. I would try thing, before doing anything else. * You should have your theme in “wp-content/themes/”. The sub-folders called “default” and “classic” are themes provided in the initial WordPress install. Any theme you add should be in parallel with these themes, i.e. your theme should have a similar folder and file structure to the “default” theme, just like the “default” theme has a similar structure to the “classic” theme. The “index.php” file in those sub-folders are potential home pages for your WordPress install. * If your still having problems, it might be a good idea to download a modern theme like “Thematic” or “Hybrid” and try to get one of those working first. This would tell you if your the problem or if it’s the old theme. If you think your possible installing a theme wrong, I’d search the internet for “How to install a wordpress theme”. Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) The topic ‘Adding an (old) Theme not Working’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [Neptune](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/neptune/) * 3 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [Dan Cole](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dancole/) * Last activity: [16 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-an-old-theme-not-working/#post-1327819) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics