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MainWP Dashboard themes control the appearance of your MainWP Dashboard interface only. They do not control WordPress themes on your Child Sites. For Child Site themes, see Manage Themes.

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What You’ll Learn

  • When the header uses quick Light/Dark switching
  • When the header opens the theme selection modal
  • How to manage theme selection from MainWP Tools
  • How OS mode detection works in Quick Setup
  • Where custom theme files are stored

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Prerequisites

  • Access to your MainWP Dashboard admin area
  • FTP or file manager access (for custom themes only)

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Quick Light and Dark Switching

1

Open your Dashboard

Navigate to your MainWP Dashboard.
2

Use the header theme switcher

Use the top-right header theme button:
  • Moon icon switches to Dark mode.
  • Sun icon switches to Light mode.
3

Confirm the new mode

The Dashboard reloads and applies the selected mode for your user account.
MainWP Dashboard theme switcher showing light and dark toggle behavior MainWP uses quick switching when all of the following are true:
  • Your selected theme is default (Light) or default-dark (Dark).
  • No custom theme files are detected in the uploads themes directory.
Under this path, MainWP switches by writing mainwp_quick_theme_change in the URL and saving your user preference as default or default-dark.

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When the Theme Modal Appears

The header shows a palette icon and opens the Select MainWP Theme modal when quick switching is not used. Common cases:
  • You have one or more custom theme files.
  • You are on a legacy/custom theme path.
In this modal flow, select the desired theme and save settings.

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Manage Themes from MainWP Tools

The MainWP > Settings > Tools page always includes Select MainWP Dashboard theme. MainWP Tools section showing theme selection and various utility options
1

Go to MainWP Tools

Navigate to MainWP > Settings > Tools.
2

Open Select MainWP Dashboard theme

Use the theme dropdown in the Tools section.
3

Choose a theme

Light and Dark are always available.Legacy options appear when currently selected. Custom .css theme files in uploads are also listed.
4

Save your settings

Click Save Settings.

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OS Preference Detection

MainWP does not continuously auto-sync theme mode with your operating system. During Quick Setup, MainWP can detect OS color preference and save an initial Light/Dark selection when:
  • Your user has no saved MainWP theme preference.
  • The Quick Setup flow condition for an empty connected-sites state applies.
After a theme is saved for your user, that saved preference is used until you change it.

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Custom Theme Files

You can create custom themes by modifying existing CSS files and uploading them to your Dashboard site.
1

Download the MainWP Dashboard plugin

Download the MainWP Dashboard plugin from the WordPress.org repository.
2

Extract the plugin files

Unzip the plugin files to your computer.
3

Find the default themes

Navigate to /mainwp/assets/css/themes directory to find the built-in theme CSS files.
4

Copy and customize a theme

Copy one of the CSS files and open it in your preferred code editor. Make your customizations.
5

Rename your theme file

Save the file with a new descriptive name (e.g., my-agency-theme.css).
6

Upload to your Dashboard

Upload the CSS file to /wp-content/uploads/mainwp/themes/ on your Dashboard site using FTP or your hosting file manager.
7

Select your custom theme

Your custom theme appears in the theme selector in MainWP > Settings > Tools and in the theme modal path.

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Theme File Locations

If an older custom-dashboard folder exists, MainWP migrates it to the themes folder path used now.Custom themes in the uploads directory persist through plugin updates. Built-in themes may be overwritten during updates.

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Legacy Theme Compatibility

  • Legacy theme options remain supported for users already on those themes.
  • If legacy/custom conditions are detected, the header uses the palette button (modal path) instead of direct Light/Dark toggle.
  • For the default experience, use Light or Dark themes.

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Self-Check Checklist

  • This page is used for MainWP Dashboard appearance, not Child Site themes
  • Header shows moon/sun quick switcher when using default Light/Dark with no custom theme files
  • Header shows palette button and modal path for legacy/custom scenarios
  • MainWP Tools includes Select MainWP Dashboard theme
  • Theme preference persists for your user after reload