Transferring a modified WP theme

rosetrees · 11-20-2009, 04:45 AM

I know I'm missing something here. I designed a new site last night (using my favourite theme!). I had it on a test subdomain. One thing has been eluding me and it's driving me mad!! How do I transfer the modified theme to another site.?

This is what I did:

Set up new site, installed WP and installed the theme.

Went to test site - used ftp software to download the ENTIRE theme folder to my computer. Used ftp software to upload the entire theme folder to new site, overwriting as I went.

It didn't work. The new site still looked as the theme does "out of the box". None of the modifications were there - except one - the new header graphic was in place.

I also tried exporting and then importing the database. Nothing.

What am I missing. It's driving me crazy. Where is WP storing all those modifications I make to the theme.

Thanks for any clues.
Carol

John Taylor · 11-20-2009, 04:52 AM

Carol,

Did you activate the theme after you transferred it?

John

rosetrees · 11-20-2009, 04:56 AM

Yes I, installed and activated the theme before transferring.

I think (???) I might know what I did wrong. It was late last night and I think I was being too simplistic.

I think (I'm just going to try it) - that the clue is to start by creating a new database - then ftp the entire installation of WP and then modify wp-config to point to the new database. Then import the old database.

I'll post back and let you know how I get on.

Edit: Not sure that is the answer. That would transfer the ENTIRE site (if it had content) and I JUST want to transfer the modified theme - not the site content. Aaaaargh this is driving me bananas

JeffLam · 11-20-2009, 05:09 AM

Carol,

How did you modify the WP theme? Did you do it via the 'editor' on 'appearance' tab of WP?

If so, perhaps the traditional method of 'copy and paste html codes' from the editor of the modified WP theme to the newly installed 'fresh out of the box' WP theme will do the trick.

Especially if you do not really require the content to be transferred to the new WP.

rosetrees · 11-20-2009, 05:39 AM

Sorry Jeff - I'm being a bit daft and I'm not sure I quite understand what you are saying? I use Atahualpa and yes I modified it through the "Atahualpa Theme Options" under the Appearance tab in WP. There are hundreds of things you can change.

I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean by "copy and past html codes" - do you mean just go into the theme on the new site and make the same modifications? That's what I was trying to avoid doing - but maybe I misunderstood what you mean?

Carol

John Taylor · 11-20-2009, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosetrees

Yes I, installed and activated the theme before transferring.

Did you activate the theme after you transferred
it to the new site?

John

JakeThePeg · 11-20-2009, 06:19 AM

Atuhualpa is a massive and largely customisable theme. It wouldn't surprise me if it has it's own database just for the theme settings - did you try importing the entire database over as well?

There's quite a good Atuhualpa support forum actually, which I'm pretty sure will cover this exact topic.

rosetrees · 11-20-2009, 06:19 AM

Sorry John - I'm being dim again. Do you mean re-activate it? It's displaying as the theme does when it is first installed.

Right as this moment, I'm trying ftping the entire site with a modified wp-config file. So I can't just go in and try reactivating. I'll add that to the "to do" list of things to try a little later. I'll set up another test sub-domain and try it.

Edit: Failed again - ftping the entire site and modifying wp-config just gives an error message. I KNOW this has to be possible!

jazbo · 11-20-2009, 07:03 AM

I think I can see what is going on.

You have modded the theme via its options in the WP admin panel yes? This means that any changes are stored in fields in the Database (how else would it save them via a control panel?).

So you would have to use the Db as well or find the fields it stores the data in using phpmyadmin. Messy.

My advice is to redo your changes, but by editing the theme files directly by using notepad and FTP, that way your changes are in the themes php and css files and can be moved anywhere.

EDIT: I see you already got this exact answer on the themes forum ;-)

rosetrees · 11-20-2009, 07:05 AM

Thanks Jazbo - that makes sense to me. It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's what I was beginning to think was the case.

Edit too!! Did I - I haven't looked at that forum for a couple of hours. Thanks for the heads up.

Istvan Horvath · 11-20-2009, 09:22 AM

Lessons to be learned from this thread:

1. You can use the FTP download/upload method to transfer a modified theme only when you effectively edit the physical files in the theme folder.

2. In the case of themes with their own options page in the admin panel you didn't edit anything in the files - you just saved settings/options in the database. Downloading and uploading the theme files won't do anything...

3. If you tweak a theme by its own setting on your test/development install, you need to export the database and import it to the new location (don't forget to edit the site_url and home tables in the DB!)

4. The above #3 could work in the case of a brand new blog on the client's site but remember this WARNING: don't do it with an existing blog because you will wipe out all the content of the client!

5. Best method for "modifying" a theme with own settings for a client - do it "in situ", i.e. on the real installation of the client!
(or, if you want to work twice... do it first on your dev install, open another window with the client's blog, and copy over all the settings)

madison_avenue · 11-23-2009, 06:27 AM

Some great points on this thread! So overall what is the recommended method of building a site and then transferring it to someone else?

Should you avoid using the theme editor's provided by the theme designer and instead
edit the theme script, css etc, directly?

When transferring ,upload your edited files directly to the buyers host server. Then let the buyer change the password.

Avoid using Fantistico for security reasons.

Would these be the correct lessons to take away?

11-20-2009, 04:45 AM	#1
rosetrees Carol War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 13 Thanks: 341 Thanked 736 Times in 516 Posts Social Networking	Transferring a modified WP theme - how? I know I'm missing something here. I designed a new site last night (using my favourite theme!). I had it on a test subdomain. One thing has been eluding me and it's driving me mad!! How do I transfer the modified theme to another site.? This is what I did: Set up new site, installed WP and installed the theme. Went to test site - used ftp software to download the ENTIRE theme folder to my computer. Used ftp software to upload the entire theme folder to new site, overwriting as I went. It didn't work. The new site still looked as the theme does "out of the box". None of the modifications were there - except one - the new header graphic was in place. I also tried exporting and then importing the database. Nothing. What am I missing. It's driving me crazy. Where is WP storing all those modifications I make to the theme. Thanks for any clues. Carol
	Offliners - Client Guide to Editing a Wordpress Site Atahualpa Theme Tutorial. Available to promote via Clickbank Beginners Guide to SEO - Good, solid, grounding in SEO techniques

11-20-2009, 04:52 AM	#2
John Taylor Recovering Millionaire War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Langholm, Scotland, United Kingdom. Posts: 10,049 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 1,214 Thanked 2,451 Times in 638 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Carol, Did you activate the theme after you transferred it? John
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11-20-2009, 04:56 AM	#3
rosetrees Carol War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 13 Thanks: 341 Thanked 736 Times in 516 Posts Social Networking	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Yes I, installed and activated the theme before transferring. I think (???) I might know what I did wrong. It was late last night and I think I was being too simplistic. I think (I'm just going to try it) - that the clue is to start by creating a new database - then ftp the entire installation of WP and then modify wp-config to point to the new database. Then import the old database. I'll post back and let you know how I get on. Edit: Not sure that is the answer. That would transfer the ENTIRE site (if it had content) and I JUST want to transfer the modified theme - not the site content. Aaaaargh this is driving me bananas
	Offliners - Client Guide to Editing a Wordpress Site Atahualpa Theme Tutorial. Available to promote via Clickbank Beginners Guide to SEO - Good, solid, grounding in SEO techniques

11-20-2009, 05:09 AM	#4
JeffLam Entrepreneur War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Singapore Posts: 573 Thanks: 128 Thanked 53 Times in 44 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Carol, How did you modify the WP theme? Did you do it via the 'editor' on 'appearance' tab of WP? If so, perhaps the traditional method of 'copy and paste html codes' from the editor of the modified WP theme to the newly installed 'fresh out of the box' WP theme will do the trick. Especially if you do not really require the content to be transferred to the new WP.
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11-20-2009, 05:39 AM	#5
rosetrees Carol War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 13 Thanks: 341 Thanked 736 Times in 516 Posts Social Networking	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Sorry Jeff - I'm being a bit daft and I'm not sure I quite understand what you are saying? I use Atahualpa and yes I modified it through the "Atahualpa Theme Options" under the Appearance tab in WP. There are hundreds of things you can change. I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean by "copy and past html codes" - do you mean just go into the theme on the new site and make the same modifications? That's what I was trying to avoid doing - but maybe I misunderstood what you mean? Carol
	Offliners - Client Guide to Editing a Wordpress Site Atahualpa Theme Tutorial. Available to promote via Clickbank Beginners Guide to SEO - Good, solid, grounding in SEO techniques

11-20-2009, 06:19 AM	#7
JakeThePeg Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 46 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Atuhualpa is a massive and largely customisable theme. It wouldn't surprise me if it has it's own database just for the theme settings - did you try importing the entire database over as well? There's quite a good Atuhualpa support forum actually, which I'm pretty sure will cover this exact topic.
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11-20-2009, 07:03 AM	#9
jazbo Systematic Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Norfolk, England. Posts: 1,906 Blog Entries: 9 Thanks: 35 Thanked 298 Times in 217 Posts Social Networking	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? I think I can see what is going on. You have modded the theme via its options in the WP admin panel yes? This means that any changes are stored in fields in the Database (how else would it save them via a control panel?). So you would have to use the Db as well or find the fields it stores the data in using phpmyadmin. Messy. My advice is to redo your changes, but by editing the theme files directly by using notepad and FTP, that way your changes are in the themes php and css files and can be moved anywhere. EDIT: I see you already got this exact answer on the themes forum ;-)
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11-20-2009, 07:05 AM	#10
rosetrees Carol War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 2,735 Blog Entries: 13 Thanks: 341 Thanked 736 Times in 516 Posts Social Networking	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Thanks Jazbo - that makes sense to me. It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's what I was beginning to think was the case. Edit too!! Did I - I haven't looked at that forum for a couple of hours. Thanks for the heads up.
	Offliners - Client Guide to Editing a Wordpress Site Atahualpa Theme Tutorial. Available to promote via Clickbank Beginners Guide to SEO - Good, solid, grounding in SEO techniques

11-20-2009, 09:22 AM	#11
Istvan Horvath Watching you... War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Waterdown, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,986 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 1,575 Thanked 2,726 Times in 1,656 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Lessons to be learned from this thread: 1. You can use the FTP download/upload method to transfer a modified theme only when you effectively edit the physical files in the theme folder. 2. In the case of themes with their own options page in the admin panel you didn't edit anything in the files - you just saved settings/options in the database. Downloading and uploading the theme files won't do anything... 3. If you tweak a theme by its own setting on your test/development install, you need to export the database and import it to the new location (don't forget to edit the site_url and home tables in the DB!) 4. The above #3 could work in the case of a brand new blog on the client's site but remember this WARNING: don't do it with an existing blog because you will wipe out all the content of the client! 5. Best method for "modifying" a theme with own settings for a client - do it "in situ", i.e. on the real installation of the client! (or, if you want to work twice... do it first on your dev install, open another window with the client's blog, and copy over all the settings)
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11-23-2009, 06:27 AM	#12
madison_avenue Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: London, United Kingdom. Posts: 902 Thanks: 675 Thanked 89 Times in 79 Posts	Re: Transferring a modified WP theme - how? Some great points on this thread! So overall what is the recommended method of building a site and then transferring it to someone else? Should you avoid using the theme editor's provided by the theme designer and instead edit the theme script, css etc, directly? When transferring ,upload your edited files directly to the buyers host server. Then let the buyer change the password. Avoid using Fantistico for security reasons. Would these be the correct lessons to take away?