Export a static HTML site as a WordPress theme (.zip)

What a static HTML site does and does not export

a static HTML site is a plain hand-written HTML site, and the classic tutorial route means splitting files into PHP partials by hand. Even where an export exists, it hands you raw files rather than the specific structure WordPress expects — a theme header, a stylesheet WordPress recognises, and templates that render.

Anatomy of a valid WordPress theme

WordPress will only accept a .zip containing a theme folder with a metadata header, an entry template, and correctly referenced assets. That structure is what a hand port spends most of its time producing.

• A theme folder with a recognisable name
• A stylesheet carrying the theme header
• An entry template that renders the page
• Relative asset paths that survive the upload

Producing the .zip from a rendered page

Themify writes that structure for you. It reads the fully painted page at the live page or a local file served over http, rewrites every asset reference to a local path, and packages the result.

1. Open the page you want to convert in Chrome.
2. Click the Themify extension icon in the toolbar.
3. Press Generate theme and wait for the capture to finish.
4. In wp-admin, go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.
5. Upload the .zip, activate it, and the page is live on WordPress.

Checking the export before you ship

Install the theme on a staging site first. Confirm fonts load, images resolve, and interactive elements still respond. Because the capture includes your handwritten markup, styles and scripts exactly as written, most issues come from assets that were behind a login rather than from the conversion itself.