are some of the people newer to tumblr aware of the joys of theme customization on desktop? I know some ppl are just on mobile so they can’t really change things but like SO many blogs nowadays have 0 theme customization and just use the default theme and I’m beginning to wonder if they even know about the option. It’s one of the main reasons why I still use tumblr

this post is not to be mean to people for not knowing btw. i just think its good for people to know bc page customization is one of the things that is slowly disappearing from the internet and i suspect that many ppl don’t even realize its something they can do on here bc they’re so used to their only customization options being like a pfp and maybe a header image. The option to do so here is something I desperately want to preserve since its a fantastic middle ground between the bare bones profile customization of twitter and like. coding an entire webpage from scratch.

like for people who don’t know, this is what my blog looks like if you visit it on desktop, outside of the dashboard popups

desktop users who have no theme this is the life you could be living

ppl in the tags asking how to do this, or who did not even know it was an option, here’s a very quick how to:

1. choose a theme. this is the easy part, search “blog themes” or “html themes” in the tumblr search bar, there are MANY blogs out there dedicated to curating lists of free tumblr themes. Find one you like and save the code in a seperate tab. I would probably check to make sure the theme was not created too long ago, as tumblr website changes over the years have broken some older codes/themes. I would also try to find a theme with lots of customization options, as this makes it easier to make your blog totally unique looking, even if you are unfamiliar with html.

2. either go to your blog’s actual page [YOUR-URL.tumblr.com] and click on the little paint palette icon that shows up in the top right corner, OR you go to your blog’s appearance settings, there should be a button that says “edit themes”

3. once you open the blog theme editor, there should be an option to edit html in the top left corner. Select and delete ALL of the present code. Then, paste in the code of your preferred tumblr theme and hit save. You may have to exit and reenter the customization page for the full effects to take place.

4. From this point on, customize to your heart’s content! Just make sure if you are using a theme made by someone else, that you don’t accidentally remove their credits. This can’t really happen unless you are editing the html directly though, so you likely don’t have to worry.

Keep in mind, messing around with tumblr themes still takes time, even if you’re not doing it all from scratch. Think of it like decorating an empty room. It will take time and effort, and it’s not at all necessary, but it’s worth it to make your space feel more like yours.

I always wanted to customize my page but like…any time i see “html” and it has to deal with customizing a page I cry and run away like a scared puppy. So FOR NOW, I’m going to be boring to avoid the utter anguish and despair I’d feel—

i promise you, if you find a theme with customization built in, the only time you will be touching the html is to copypaste it into the theme editor

tumblr has this great function that allows theme creators - the people doing all the html work for you - to put options like colors, changing the size of images and posts on your blog, the text font, etc, into user-friendly buttons and selection screens. Most html themes nowadays have at least a few of these built in! Mine looks like this

you see? no html knowledge required, very simple to use, and still beautiful and unique!

also, if you are still worried, tumblr has the option to revert everything back to the default state, or even restore previous themes. Your blog won’t be bunked up forever if you mess up some html editing if you DO decide to explore. Go ham!