Looking for suggested workflow: changing theme, custom css, dev site

  • Unknown's avatar
    bkrone · Member ·

    Hi,

    We’re planning on changing the theme of our site, which will most likely require a good amount of custom css and page/post edits. Therefore I think we’ll need to work on a separate dev site until everything is done.
    The theme will most likely be a premium one.

    As theme and custom css cost money – and also generally – I am wondering what the best workflow is.
    So far I created a separate dev site and imported all the original content. From here it seems a premium theme and the custom css feature needs to be purchased for the dev site and when everything is ready, the theme needs to be purchased again for the main site. Is this correct or are there cheaper/better approaches?

    Thanks,
    Boris

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

  • Unknown's avatar
    bkrone · Member ·

    No suggestions anyone?

    I’ll rephrase my question:
    My client ‘Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind’ wants to change to a new template, but the production site can obviously not be used for active development.
    It seems the only option is to create a separate blog and pay double for custom design and premium template.
    I’d like to spare my client these expenses and wonder if there is a better way to deal with this.

    Any help is appreciated.
    Thank you.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bkrone · Member ·

    I’d like to add another question: HTML edits to posts and pages will be required during development.
    Is it possible to import those from the dev site and the import will simply overwrite existing posts/pages? I am worried that
    a) the import creates doubles
    b) the import deletes comments

    Thanks again.

  • Unknown's avatar
    brookedot · Member ·

    Hi Boris,

    For security and preference reasons we do not allow HTML, PHP, or JavaScript edits to sites hosted by WordPress.com. We also don’t allow custom themes or FTP uploads. We do, however, allow CSS modifications. If you need the ability to edit a theme’s PHP template files then you may wish to use the self-hosted version of WordPress found at WordPress.org.

    This article will teach you a bit of the difference between the two main methods of using the WordPress software:
    https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

    To use WordPress.com as your host and set up a staging site you will want to create two websites one for testing and one for production. You will want to make sure both sites are using the same theme. After making your CSS changes in your staging you are ready to make changes to the production site you will want to copy any CSS changes over via the cusotmizer.

    With regards to imports, your import will not create duplicate data. However, I would still recommend you only export the data not currently in your production site. For example, when you create the export you will be able to choose which date range to export.

    Let us know if you have any other questions.

  • Unknown's avatar
    brookedot · Member ·

    A couple of other options is to use the 14 day trial of the plan while you are in development. You may also transfer your Upgrades between the staging and production site by following this guide:
    https://en.support.wordpress.com/my-upgrades/#transferring-upgrades

    However, if you plan on making a lot of changes it is recommended to have the plan on both sites.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bkrone · Member ·

    Hi bdukes,

    Thank you for your response.
    I know that I cannot edit the theme files or add custom javascript on wp.com – what I meant with HTML edits is part of the posts/pages content (e.g. the tables on the product page). I suspect a lot of ‘responsive unfriendly’ content has been added over the years, so all pages and most posts need to be reviewed and edited as required. Hence my plan is to put a freeze on the production site, export everything to dev – and when development is done, bringing all posts and pages back to production.

    I am now a bit concerned about your advice not to export production data. Do I have reason to? I was thinking that when I create the export on the dev site, I would only export posts and pages, so that no new comments get overwritten on the production site.

    -boris

  • Unknown's avatar
    brookedot · Member ·

    Hi Boris,

    Importing changes to existing posts is a bit tricky. If a post/page is already on the site we don’t overwrite it, we simply skip it. In your use-case, what this means is that your changes to existing posts/pages will not get made if the post already exists.

    What I would recommend is closing comments on all posts older than X days (say a week). When you do the export from the dev site to production site, delete the posts/pages with changes, and the importing from the dev site.

    I’d also strongly recommend doing a backup export from your production file before removing any posts.

    As far as comments, as they will only be allowed for new posts, I would suggest making any HTML/CSS changes to those posts in your production site.

    You will be able to turn comments back on on older posts after you’ve moved the content back over from the dev site.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bkrone · Member ·

    Thank you, that was very helpful!

  • Unknown's avatar
    brookedot · Member ·

    You’re welcome :)

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