Installing Zen

You will first want to install Zen as a base theme. And then you will want to create a Zen sub-theme for any modifications you need for your website.

Install Zen automatically

Note this method can cause problems on some web hosting sites.

1. Go to the Zen project Home page, and 'copy' the URL link location for the Zen version that you want to install.
2. Visit the Appearance page at admin/appearance and click the "Install new theme" button.
3. 'Paste' the download location URL into the field-box "Install from a URL".
4. Click the button "Install".

Install Zen manually

1. Download Zen from https://drupal.org/project/zen
2. Unpack the downloaded file, take the entire zen folder and place it in your Drupal installation under themes/. Alternative installation folders can be used; for more information read the sites/example.sites.php file in your Drupal installation.
3. Log in as an administrator on your Drupal site and go to the Appearance page at admin/appearance. If you installed the theme properly, you will see the Zen theme listed under the heading "Uninstalled theme".

After installing Zen

You do not need to 'enable' the Zen theme for it to function as a base-theme for the Zen sub-theme you will create next.

The base-theme Zen will automatically move out of the 'Appearance' page section 'Uninstalled themes' and into the section 'Installed themes' after you click "Install" or "Install and set as default" on the 'Appearance' page for any Zen subtheme.

Warning if using 'Zen 8.x-7.0-alpha14', or 'Zen 8.x-7.x-dev (2016-Jul-14)': Do NOT set the base-theme Zen as the 'Administration theme' at the bottom of the 'Appearance' page; and do Not have the 'Administration theme' set to "Default theme" and then click "Set as default" for the base-theme Zen. That will thoroughly break your site, and although the site can be recovered, Zen and Zen subthemes will no longer work on the site. See issue: https://www.drupal.org/node/2769557

If you want to check out Zen as your site's default theme before you decide to create a Zen subtheme, just make sure that the 'Administration theme' at the bottom of the 'Appearance' page is not set to 'Default theme'-- before you click "Install and set as default" (when it is in the section 'Uninstalled themes'), or before you click "Set as default" (when it is in the section 'Installed themes')

You can, however, set your Zen subtheme as the 'Administration theme' without worry after you create it.

You will next create a Zen sub-theme for any modifications you want to make to Zen. See Create a Zen sub-theme.

"SiteZen site builder":

Note for users whose hosting providers use the "SiteZen site builder"

There seems to be a conflict between some host installations of the SiteZen site builder and the Zen directory name which causes broken tabs, css files to be "not found", and other issues. To learn more about this problem and to learn its solution, see SiteZen builder causes "Page not found" errors for images, css, etc..