Switching Themes - What am I in for?

10 replies
Title pretty much says it all.

I've been trying to build a website now for nearly a year, they have all used free wordpress themes.

Besides hearing how free themes may or may not be liked by Google as well as me wanting a change in appearance on the site prompted me to buy a premium theme.

I am afraid to take the plunge and activate the theme. I have about 80 pages of content. What can I expect?

- Will I have to redirect pages and posts or will that automatically happen?
- What about links? Do I need to double check them all?
- Are all of the images going to be messed up? Or will there be other alignment issues?
- Categories - will those be gone?

Is there a way to keep all of my settings from my current theme like archived, switch themes, check it out, and then switch back if need be?

Thanks for your help.
#switching #themes
  • Profile picture of the author signumdomine
    content itself probably wont be affected, but any tweaking of the old themes will be gone. by this i mean google analytics, adsense, and any other stuff which didnt come with the original theme
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7115888].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Mr. Ken Russell
      Just try it out, you can always switch back and get everything back to where you had it. You might want to make a back up just incase Good luck.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7115890].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author huskieswin
        Hey - thanks for the answers.

        I am hoping that there's a plugin for a back up?

        I guess I am nervous about switching because I don't know what I'll miss in trying to set everything back up.

        What about the wp settings? Will those remain the same? Like if I have selected the post title format will it stay there or will it shift to post date? And if it does switch, will it alter all of my old content url's, leading to not found errors?

        Sorry for so many questions.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7115917].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Mr. Ken Russell
          Originally Posted by huskieswin View Post

          Hey - thanks for the answers.

          I am hoping that there's a plugin for a back up?

          I guess I am nervous about switching because I don't know what I'll miss in trying to set everything back up.

          What about the wp settings? Will those remain the same? Like if I have selected the post title format will it stay there or will it shift to post date? And if it does switch, will it alter all of my old content url's, leading to not found errors?

          Sorry for so many questions.
          Are you with HostGator? Open up live support and they'll do everything for you.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7115921].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
            Originally Posted by Nio93 View Post

            Are you with HostGator? Open up live support and they'll do everything for you.
            Hostgator won't activate a new theme for you. It's literally a couple of mouse clicks.

            As to the rest of the Op's questions:
            Changing themes has no effect on the settings you've set in your Wordpress dashboard, it just changes the appearance of your site.

            There's only one way to learn - by doing. No-one ever learnt to drive a car by asking, you have to get stuck in and try it.

            Backing up your content is easy - just go to settings/export.

            The joy of Wordpress is that you can change themes at will without affecting anything else. If the layout goes haywire, just change back to your old theme.

            When I'm trying new things I set up a sub-domain to "play" on. Set up a new installation of Wordpress in a sub-directory. Go to settings/privacy and tell the search engines not to index the site. Add some lorem ipsum text, or other nonsense text and play to your heart's content without affecting your life site. That's the best way to learn - honestly.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7116062].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author huskieswin
              Originally Posted by rosetrees View Post

              Hostgator won't activate a new theme for you. It's literally a couple of mouse clicks.

              As to the rest of the Op's questions:
              Changing themes has no effect on the settings you've set in your Wordpress dashboard, it just changes the appearance of your site.

              There's only one way to learn - by doing. No-one ever learnt to drive a car by asking, you have to get stuck in and try it.

              Backing up your content is easy - just go to settings/export.

              The joy of Wordpress is that you can change themes at will without affecting anything else. If the layout goes haywire, just change back to your old theme.

              When I'm trying new things I set up a sub-domain to "play" on. Set up a new installation of Wordpress in a sub-directory. Go to settings/privacy and tell the search engines not to index the site. Add some lorem ipsum text, or other nonsense text and play to your heart's content without affecting your life site. That's the best way to learn - honestly.
              Thanks for the advice!

              You see? I had never known about going to settings and then export.

              I have never quite understood the whole subdomain thing or add on domain for that matter.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7116101].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
                Originally Posted by huskieswin View Post

                T

                I have never quite understood the whole subdomain thing or add on domain for that matter.
                Does your web host use fantastico, for example, to install Wordpress? If so, tell it you want a new installation and then when it says "install in directory" type in a name for your subdirectory (testing, for example).

                That way WP will be installed on a subdirectory for you to play around with and won't affect your main site.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7116131].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Smith
    Switching themes is really easy. You may have to adjust some widgets but not much on your end. I would be happy to help you if you wish. I use wordpress religiously and have been a designer developer for years.
    Signature

    VOTE FOR MY LATEST REMIX: https://goo.gl/jwHF0j
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7115922].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Soumitra
    Originally Posted by huskieswin View Post

    Title pretty much says it all.

    I've been trying to build a website now for nearly a year, they have all used free wordpress themes.

    Besides hearing how free themes may or may not be liked by Google as well as me wanting a change in appearance on the site prompted me to buy a premium theme.

    I am afraid to take the plunge and activate the theme. I have about 80 pages of content. What can I expect?

    - Will I have to redirect pages and posts or will that automatically happen?
    - What about links? Do I need to double check them all?
    - Are all of the images going to be messed up? Or will there be other alignment issues?
    - Categories - will those be gone?

    Is there a way to keep all of my settings from my current theme like archived, switch themes, check it out, and then switch back if need be?

    Thanks for your help.
    When you run a restaurant , people come there for the taste of the food , not mere decoration.

    What I mean is :- concentrate on what is the "Core Value" & deliver it to the fullest satisfaction. Themes do not matter much. A default 20-11 is one of the simplest & best. Concentrate on content , service, sharing, helping others. thats it
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7116510].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    If you have customized your sidebar or any other pages, you will have to redo those customizations.

    You lose nothing and your posts will be where they belong and their urls do not change. Just do it. You can always switch back to the old theme if you don't like it, without losing anything.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7116536].message }}

Trending Topics