Podcast Website accounts come with exclusive website designs, called "themes." These themes were designed for podcasts, complete with features that highlight your episodes and podcast information.
They're fully customizable, too! So you can change the look and feel of your website to match your podcast's brand.
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Podcast Websites uses a tool called WordPress to build your site. We may refer to it throughout this article. For more information about the WordPress platform, check out their website or our other documentation. |
Identify Your Chosen Theme
If you have chosen one of our exclusive podcast themes, we can show you the exact steps to customize your theme.
But first you need to know which theme you're using. You can check by:
- Logging in to the WordPress Admin Interface
- Clicking Appearance in the left sidebar
This will take you to the theme's page. The theme you're currently using will be displayed in the top left corner. The name of the theme is located at the bottom of the theme box.
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Want to try a different theme? Hover over another theme and click the Preview button to see how it would look on your site. |
Once you know the name of your theme, read its tutorial below for theme-specific instructions. You are currently reading the tutorial for the Fractal Theme. You can see our other theme guides here:
If you are using a third party theme, or another built-in theme like Twenty Twenty-One, these steps will differ. See your chosen theme's documentation for specific steps.
Access the Customizer
If you're using the Podcast Fractal theme, follow these steps to access the website customizer:
- In the left sidebar, hover over Appearance
- In the drop-down, click Customize
This will bring you to the Customizer interface. You can make custom changes to your website theme here.
Customizer Options
There are a few options when you enter the Customizer interface. We'll walk you through the interface below so you can use it effectively.
Site Identity
Homepage Style Settings
Podcast Link Settings
Theme Settings
Navigation Bar Settings
Advanced Customizations:
See a specific action you'd like a tutorial for? Click on it to be taken to its instructions.
Site Identity
Click on the Site Identity tab in order to access any of the following customizations:
- Site Logo
- Site Title
- Tagline
- Site Icon
Site Logo
Add your logo to your website to keep your new website on brand, as well as create a convenient link to your homepage. Make changes to your site logo by going to Site Identity > Site Logo.
The logo section is the first section on the Site Identity page. Upload your logo by clicking the Select Image button, then selecting your logo from your files. You can also drag-and-drop the file into the Select Image box.
You can change the image at any time by clicking the Change image button and uploading a new logo file. You may also remove the logo from your site all together by clicking the Removebutton.
Site Title
The Site Title is the large text that appears in the footer.
To make changes, go into the Site Identity tab, then edit the text in the Site Title textbox. If you wish to remove the title all together, leave the textbox blank.
Tagline
The Tagline is the line of text beneath the Site Title. You can edit the tagline by changing the text in the Tagline textbox. If you wish to remove the tagline all together, simply delete all the text in the Tagline textbox.
Site Icon
The Site Icon is an icon that is shown in browser tabs, bookmarks, and more. If you'd like to customize your site's icon, you can upload one in the Site Icon section.
To upload an image, click on the Site Identity tab, then go to the Site Icon section and click the Select Site Icon box.
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Icon images work best when they are square and at least 512 px by 512 px. |
Homepage Style Settings
Click on the Homepage Style Settings tab in order to access any of the following customizations:
- Stay Connected Section
- About the Podcast Section
Stay Connected
The Stay Connected section is a place to display social or podcasting platforms icons. You can access its settings by going to the Homepage Style Settings tab. Once there, check the Display Stay Connected Section to add this section to your homepage. You can upload up to four images for display.
Once uploaded, the images will appear in the "Stay Connected" section of your homepage.
While not linkable, these images are designed to draw attention to the social links also displayed in this section. For information about adding social links, see the Social Links section.
About the Podcast Section
The About the Podcast section is designed to draw attention to your podcast, then channel visitor attention to a specific link. To set up your About the Podcast section, go to the Homepage Style Settings tab, then check the box next to Display About the Podcast Section to add it to your homepage. This will add the section to your homepage.
CTA Image
The CTA image is the main image displayed in the About the Podcast section.
Click Select Image to open the media library. You can upload an image by dragging and dropping it into the box. Once an image is uploaded, you can remove the image by clicking the Remove button, or change the image by clicking the Change image button.
Homepage CTA Large Title
Change the large title in the About the Podcast section by entering text into the Homepage CTA Large Title textbox.
Homepage CTA Small Title
Change the small title in the About the Podcast section by entering text into the Homepage CTA Small Title textbox. Leave the textbox blank to remove the title all together.
Homepage CTA Text
Use the Homepage CTA Text textbox to add text underneath the large CTA title. Leave the textbox blank to remove the paragraph space all together.
Homepage CTA Link Text & URL
Filling in the Homepage CTA Link Text and Homepage CTA URL text boxes adds a button to your About the Podcast section. The Homepage CTA Link Text is the text that appears on the button, while the Homepage CTA Link URL is the link that will be applied to the button.
Podcast Link Settings
Click on the Podcast Link Settings tab in order to access any of the following customizations:
- Social Links
- Podcast Directory Links
Social Links
Use the Social links section to add social icons to your homepage. Find these settings by going to Podcast Link Settings > Social Links. Once there, simply paste the link to your social media account into the textbox under the name of the social media platform. Once a link is added to the textbox, the homepage will add the social icon to the homepage. To remove a social icon from the homepage, remove the link from its textbox.
Podcast Directory Links
Use the Podcast Directory section to add links to different podcast platforms on your home page. Find these settings by going to Podcast List Settings > Podcast Directory Links.
Paste the link to your podcast underneath the name of the podcast platform. Doing so will add the platform icon to your homepage. To remove an icon, simply delete the link in the textbox under the platform name.
Episode Settings
Episode Cover Image
Want to overwrite all of your podcast episode images with a single image? You can do so by adding an Episode Cover Image at Episode Settings > Episode Cover Image.
Once in the section, click the Select Image button to upload your desired image.
| Uploading an Episode Cover Image will overwrite all other episode artwork on your site, including featured images added in the Podcast Episodes individual settings. |
To remove the episode cover image, you can return to this section and click the Remove Image button. You can also change the image at any time by clicking the Change Image button.
| Don't have an Episode Cover Image, but still having trouble with your episode artwork? Check your podcast host settings or RSS feed for errors. |
Theme Settings
Click on the Theme Settings tab in order to access any of the following customizations:
- Site Colors
- Site Design
Site Colors
Change your site colors to match your podcast brand. Make the changes easily by going to Theme Settings > Site Colors.
You can select from a variety of preset color options, or manually select your colors. To select a preset color, choose any option under the Color Swatch section.
To manually select your colors, click Select Color next to the color you'd like to change, then use the color picker to select a color.
Site Design
Click on the Theme Settings > Site Design tab in order to edit your header overlay. The header overlay is an image that is placed on top of the very first section on your homepage, but keeps the original header color. There are two header overlay options:
- Modern
- Elegant
Each overlays a different image onto the header. The Modern overlay consists of a variety of geometric shapes, as seen in this image:
The Elegant overlay, on the other hand, is comprised of floral and flourishes, as seen in this image:
If no overlay is selected, the website will default to using the Modern overlay.
Menus
The Menu section allows you to:
- Create and manage a navigation bar
Add noteworthy pages and links to your navigation bar. Visitors will use your navigation bar as a way to explore your site. Navigation bars on podcast websites often include pages like:
- About the Host
- Sponsors
- Merch
- Contact
Have you created pages on your website? If not, check out our page creation guide: Create Pages on Podcast Websites
You can customize your navigation bar by using the Menus section. Once in the Menus section, you can follow the steps below to build your own navigation bar.
To create a navigation bar:
- Under the Menus header, click Main
- Click + Add Items
- Click on the type of item you'd like to add. For example, if you want to add one of your pages, click on Pages.
- Click the + button next to the items you would like to add. If you are adding something that requires input (like Custom Links), fill in the information, then click Add to Menu
- If you want to remove an item, click the red x next to the item
Don't see a red x? Click the Add Items button again to make sure it's selected.
Adding your navigation bar to your website:
Once a navigation bar is created, you need to add it to your site. To do so:
- Return to the Menus section. You'll know you're here if the title text says, "You are customizing Menus"
- Under Menu Locations, click View Location
- Under Main Menu, select Main from the drop-down
This will add your navigation bar to your website.
Additional CSS
The additional CSS tab gives you a space to enter CSS into your site manually.
Not familiar with CSS? It's short for Cascading Style Sheets. You can find out more about CSS at this resource: W3 School's CSS Tutorial.