Changing to new theme while keeping old site active.

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  jimkuiken · Member · May 30, 2017 at 7:05 pm

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  Hello! I would like to update my theme to ‘The Four’ theme, but do not want to go live until the new site is fully functional. Is there a way to accomplish this while keeping the original site live, then switching to the new site when that is 100% complete? Please advise.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  dave2swords · Member · May 30, 2017 at 7:28 pm

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  Hello

  I would like to update my theme to ‘The Four’ theme, but do not want to go live until the new site is fully functional. Is there a way to accomplish this while keeping the original site live, then switching to the new site when that is 100% complete?

  You could create another WordPress site to do the development in. When you are satisfied that it is ready to go, you can Export the old site to have as a backup “Just in case”.

  Then
  Export the content from your new blog by following the steps in the Export guide
  Import the content into your existing blog by following the Import guide.

  This way, the “new” site appears where your “old” site was in a short time.

  Enjoy!
  dave

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  jimkuiken · Member · May 31, 2017 at 9:58 am

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  Thank you very much for this information. Yes, it makes sense. I’ll look into exporting and importing my blog once I redo my site to new theme. I’m thinking all the content on the static pages will be mostly the same.
  Questions:
  1. Will I simply be able to copy and paste most content (from my old site pages to the new site pages) and will the links transfer over via this method?

  2. Will creating a brand new site affect my search engine results?

  Thank you!

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  dave2swords · Member · May 31, 2017 at 12:11 pm

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  Hello

  1. Will I simply be able to copy and paste most content (from my old site pages to the new site pages) and will the links transfer over via this method?

  You could cut and paste, or you could export the old site, import it into the new, and make your changes as desired! The menus will transfer along with everything else.

  If you have a list of links that do not export, you can export your links by visiting http://example.wordpress.com/wp-links-opml.php and then use the Save File option in your web browser (usually by clicking File -> Save As… but the exact wording may vary depending on your browser)

  2. Will creating a brand new site affect my search engine results?

  Yes, it will! If you import the new site into your existing site, the Search Engine “bots” will see new content and that should result in a higher ranking.

  While you are making your new site, you may want to read over the following document and follow the suggestions it contains:
  https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

  If we can answer any other questions, please feel free to ask!

  best,
  dave

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  jimkuiken · Member · May 31, 2017 at 1:18 pm

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  Thank you Dave! You have been extremely helpful!
  Jim

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  drjburrito · Member · May 31, 2017 at 1:19 pm

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  You are most welcome, Jim

  dave