> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.wegive.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How a Checkout Chooses Its Theme

> A checkout has no theme setting of its own. Its look comes from your Portal Default theme, unless a custom domain has its own theme or a link or embed names a specific one. Editing the default theme changes every checkout that uses it, and clearing it returns the built-in WeGive styling.

If your checkout looks different from what you expected, or you want one checkout to look different from another, it helps to know where a checkout gets its theme. A checkout does not have a theme field in its own settings. Its appearance is worked out each time the page loads.

## Which theme a checkout uses

WeGive picks the first of these that applies:

1. **A theme named in the link or embed code.** If the link or embed code includes a theme, that theme is used.
2. **The theme assigned to a custom domain.** If the checkout is shown on one of your custom domains and that domain has its own theme, that theme is used.
3. **Your Portal Default theme.** This is the theme marked as the default for your donor portal.
4. **The built-in WeGive styling**, if none of the above is set.

If a theme named in a link or assigned to a domain has since been deleted, WeGive skips it and moves to the next option rather than showing an error.

New checkouts do not need a theme step. A new checkout uses your Portal Default automatically.

## What changing a theme affects

* **Editing your default theme** changes the look of your donor portal and of every checkout that uses the default. You cannot restyle one checkout through the default theme without affecting the others.
* **Editing a theme assigned to a custom domain** changes the checkouts shown on that domain.
* **Choosing a different theme for one checkout** is done through its link or embed code, described below. It applies only where that link or embed is used.

## Set or change your Portal Default

1. Go to **Settings → Themes** and open the theme you want.
2. On the theme's **Details** tab, turn on **Portal Default**.

You can also assign it from **Portal Settings**, on the **Portal V2** tab, using the **Portal Theme** picker. The Portal V2 tab appears only if your organization has Portal V2 turned on.

## Go back to the built-in styling

On the **Portal V2** tab in **Portal Settings**, clear the **Portal Theme** picker. The page confirms that the portal returned to the built-in WeGive theme. Checkouts that do not name a theme and are not on a custom domain with its own theme will then use the built-in styling.

## Use a different theme on one link or embed

1. Open the checkout and click **Implement**.
2. In the **Theme** field, search for and choose the theme.
3. Copy the link, embed code, or pop-up code.

The code you copy includes the theme you chose, so that link or embed shows the theme while others keep using your default. The **Theme** field appears only when your link will go to Portal V2. If you leave it empty, the checkout uses your custom domain's theme or the Portal Default.

The **Implement as a test checkout** option in the same window is separate. It creates a test link, and it does not change which theme is used.

## Checking a theme before you publish it

WeGive does not offer a way to preview an unsaved theme on a real checkout. The theme editor shows a sample of your colors and styles inside the dashboard. To see a theme on a real checkout, save it first. You can then check it without changing your default by choosing it in the **Theme** field of the Implement window and opening that link. Make it your Portal Default only once you are happy with how it looks.

Receipt and tax-document emails, and error pages, are not styled by your theme.

See also [Checkout Customization Limits](https://docs.wegive.com/external/support/elements/checkout-customization-limits-custom-code-and-conditional-fields.md) for what a theme can and cannot change, and [Embedding a Checkout on Your Website](https://docs.wegive.com/external/support/elements/embedding-a-checkout-on-your-website.md) for the link, embed, and pop-up options.


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