Process for changing theme

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    I have a client with a site who wants to change her theme and other design details but without interrupting her current site’s display. If she were using a self-hosted site, I could just copy and stage it and then migrate it back.

    How is this accomplished in wordpress.com?

    All my Google searches for this topic just end up with .org results.

  • Unknown's avatar
    themagicrobot · Member ·

    You can preview themes here at WordPress.com. https://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/

    All my Google searches for this topic just end up with .org results.

    I guess that’s because staging sites are a .org thing. The closest thing at WordPress.com would be to create a second site to use for testing and preview themes there https://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/. If necessary you could upgrade the test site to a Premium plan for a few days as there is a 30 day refund window.
    I’ve come across people using https://jurassic.ninja for testing purposes. With that you can create a new WordPress site with Jetpack installed, which automatically deletes itself after a few days though loading the appropriate themes (ie: not .org ones) might be a stumbling block.

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    Thanks @themagicrobot

    Is there an option to put the site in maintenance mode for a few days?

    The theme I am thinking of using is a premium one so I doubt I would be able to use it on the jurassic site.

    What in the world do bigger businesses and ecommerce sites on .com do when they need to redesign or test things out?? I can’t see them being ok with paying for 2 sites. I’m just surprised there is nothing more seamless available in .com.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    We do not currently offer any staging or maintenance mode option on WordPress.com.

    Maintenance mode in any event would take a site completely offline – that’s what maintenance mode plugins do. The equivalent to maintenance mode on WordPress.com is to set the site private while you work on it, and then set it back to public.

    You can also use the live theme preview in the Customizer to preview and configure the theme there. The Customizer allows you to save your changes as a draft without making them live on the site. Then you can publish the changes all at once when you’re ready.

    To live preview a theme, find it in the theme showcase, and select the Try and Customize option.

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    Thanks @kokkieh

    I set up a free test site to test the Try & Customize option. I was able to go through and customize the test site with a new theme but when it came time to save as a draft, all I could find was the “Activate & Publish” button with no option to save as a draft like is normally available in the Customizer.

    Did I miss it somewhere?

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    @vonnberg — possibly. If you don’t see Save as Draft you need to click the gear icon to get the draft option. Did you have a gear icon?

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    @supernovia

    That’s the thing – there is no gear icon attached to the Publish button like there normally is with the Customizer. And the button is labeled “Activate & Publish” instead of just “Publish” with the gear icon for draft options.

    Could it be because I’m on a free plan for my test site? The client’s original site is on a Premium plan. Would the ability to save the them switch as a draft be available only on paid plans?

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    @vonnberg hmm. Let me dig into this a bit more. Could you also confirm which site you’re unable to save a customizer draft on?

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    Thank you @supernovia , I would appreciate that.

    It’s just a free test site that I’m working on. No real content on it right now.

    https://mytestsite326888923.wordpress.com/

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Hi –

    Try this:

    Click on My Sites – Sites – Posts

    Open up one of your published posts

    In the upper right corner of the screen there will be an option that reads switch to draft It’s a text link next to the preview and update buttons. Do you see that? It should look like this: https://cloudup.com/cJXxuuvmhnE

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Ah – I mis understood and was referring to the post editor rather than the customizer. Apologies.

    When I look at the Customizer and make any change the Publish + gear icon become emboldened and working. Can you try this:

    Open the Customizer. Click on My Sites – Design – Customizer – Colors and Backgrounds – Pick one of the colors shown and note how the Publish button above becomes emboldened with the gear icon displayed.

  • Unknown's avatar
    vonnberg · Member ·

    I appreciate the reply but I am referring to switching themes in the Customizer not editing the live site. When switching themes using the Try & Customize option, the normal Publish button with the gear becomes “Activate & Publish” instead and there is no gear icon available.

  • staff-blorbo · Staff ·

    Since customization options are specifically saved for the specific theme, when it comes to switching themes, you must Activate & Publish first.

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