Trouble transitioning from old theme to new theme
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I tried to replace a theme for my website because the one I had was no longer available and I wanted a change for my readers.
I am 73 year old – amateur writer – and I do not sell or advertise anything on my site – just stories about my life since being diagnosed with cancer in 2009.
But the site I am switching too is very difficult to understand how to transition from the old site to the new site without losing pages or functionality.
What is the least expensive way to hire a person to help do this for my site at dannystandrews.comWP.com: Yes
Jetpack: No
Correct account: YesThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hey there @dsta123, looks like you’ve done some good work with the front page! We have a few methods that may work for you.
- If you want to hire someone, could I recommend Built By WordPress.com express? I’d suggest having them create a new design with a blog, and make them aware of you intention to import content into that. Codeable is another good option if your case doesn’t fit the Express option.
- Or, if you want to share what functionalities you want to keep and what you have in mind for the new site, we maybe able to walk you through some other options. For example, you could export the content and import it into a new site, tinker with the design til you have something you like, then connect your domain to the new site OR copy your design changes over to the old one.
Just let us know what functionality you want to keep and what you have in mind for the look and feel.
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Thank you very much for responding to my question. I would like to try the first option with built by WordPress express. I have about 500 short stories that I have written but when I tried to transition from my old WordPress theme to a new one – I lost the menus, index, comment section for new and old posts etc. I do not have advertising and do not want my site to generate a revenue stream – I’m only interested in writing my personal stories. I’ll see how WordPress Express might help but would like to stay in touch with you and your team. Thanks! Hugs, Danny St. Andrews
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I checked the Built By WordPress Express option, but it didn’t offer me what I wanted, so I would like to see if you would be able to do the fix for me. However, the current theme I am having a problem with is not the one I want to transition from. My original theme worked fine, but I wanted to change the appearance and make it more attractive. If you can view my previous themed site – it would give you the functionality I want to have on a new theme. The new theme I chose is fine – but it is too difficult for this 73-year-old to understand how to do what I want my site to look and function. I need to go to an appointment now but will be home in a couple of hours. I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks! Hugs, Danny St. Andrews
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I’m checking the history for the themes you had. I noticed you’ve recently deleted some files. Please be sure you’re not deleting anything you want to keep on the site. If you’re doing that in prep for the new design, let us know so we can try to come up with a better option.
I lost the menus, index, comment section for new and old posts etc
Looks like you had Chateau before; does that sound right? That one did have quite a bit of info on the sidebars. I took a look at the Web Archive. Looks like you had a sidebar with recent posts, recent comments, and a list of archives by date and by category, along with a few menu links with your story.
What do you want the new site to look like, ideally? What kinds of things are you hoping to change, and what aspects do you want to keep? Would you like a header with your links for example? If so, you can add a menu like so:
Your WordPress menu is the list of links that are typically displayed at the top of your site. Our guides will show you how to add and edit your site’s menu settings. About Menus A menu (also called navigation) makes it easy for your visitors to find their way around your website’s pages and other content. A menu is commonly displayed prominently in the site’s header or sidebar. The menIt’s also possible to set up indexes, as a sidebar, or a footer, or a separate page. Do you want the whole index to show on every post and page as before, or what do you have in mind?
About the comment section: I’m checking into this for you. It should be included by default in the theme, but doesn’t seem to be. I’ll ask our themes team about that and let you know what we find.
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Sorry for the delay in replying, but I have health problems which prevented a more timely response. Yes, Chateau was the theme. I wanted to change from that theme because the number of blog posts was now 500+, and I needed to offer my readers an easier way to access my stories without the need to go through all of the menu items on the sidebar. I have tried to change the menu – and was using the menu guide’s instructions, but I wasn’t sure if the header menu I had before could still be used. I decided to use the previous one, but when I now view my site – the site does not feature my latest story. I am getting overwhelmed by trying to do this independently and need to know if your team can make the changes for me. I am willing to pay for the service and hope you will do this. Please advise. Thanks, Danny
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Hi Danny, I can understand getting overwhelmed especially when you’re dealing with health issues. Our team offers Built By Express and the more upscale full-site offering, but it really sounds like you really just need a few adjustments more than a full site.
As is, the template has the name of your site and some links at the bottom. If you move those up top, is that more of what you’re hoping for? Take a look at the front page and see if that’s more of what you have in mind. If you like that, it could be copied to other templates. You could also add an Archives page that shows the full list of posts so they’re accessible, just not in the sidebar.
And I’m still working on the comments issue; we’ll update you soon.
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When I tried to make some changes today – I ended up making the site worse, and I would like any help you can provide. I made those changes before reading your latest reply – so I don’t know what to do now. Can you undo the changes I made this morning and make the adjustments for me? I wish I had never changed my site’s theme from Chateau because of the stress I’ve created for myself. And I know that is not your fault. I am ready to give up because the stress really has affected my health! Regards, Danny
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Hi there friend,
I wish I had never changed my site’s theme from Chateau because of the stress I’ve created for myself. And I know that is not your fault. I am ready to give up because the stress really has affected my health!
Sorry to hear this. Given the stress you’re feeling, I wonder if the best course of action is to return to your previous theme? It’s not possible for us to easily undo the changes you’ve made since you switch to your current theme, but would you like our help in restoring the prevous theme on your site?
It’s likely that some previous settings may have been lost (due to changes you made to your site while on the new theme) but much of it will be restored, and the rest can be re-added since you are more familiar than you would be with a new theme.
Let us know how you would like to proceed or if you have any questions.
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Yes, that would be perfect to go back to the Chateau theme. Thank you very much for doing this for me – I look forward to getting the old site back! ~ Hugs, Danny
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Let me know if there is a fee for your service – which I am willing to pay if it’s within my budget (I’m a 73-year-old retiree) and my site does not have a revenue stream, so I pay for everything on my limited funds. Thanks! Hugs, Danny
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Thanks for confirming. I’ve reactivated your old theme and it seems that has also restored your sidebar widgets and much of the old appearance. You can confirm by visiting the site directly.
I’m not exactly sure what it looked like before, but if anything jumps out please let us know and we can take a closer look. We may not be able to set up things for you but we can guide you, and now that you are back in familiar waters I hope it will make things a bit easier.
Let me know if there is a fee for your service – which I am willing to pay if it’s within my budget
Nothing to worry about here, happy to get things back on bedrock again for you. I do think that switching themes is an excellent idea and has the potential to be a lot of fun. But if I can make a suggestion (that will make it less stressful) you may wish to import a copy of your blog content onto a new site that you set up by using the link here: https://wordpress.com/start/
This will essentially allow you to use a copy of your site as a sandbox, so you can switch themes and experiment without fear of disrupting your live site. There is not a way to “push” these changes to your main site, so I would consider this for experimentation only. But it is a great way to get familiar with the new possibilities our themes offer, and as you pointed out at the start, can be a nice distraction in the right setting. Once you have experimented with your second site, you will have a much better idea of how to replicate those steps on your main site should you decide to update your theme there again.
Also, you might be interested in our free step-by-step courses here: https://wordpress.com/learn/courses/
For example we offer a course that is specific to setting up a new site, and is also a good way to become familiar with how our newer themes work: https://wordpress.com/learn/courses/create-your-site/
We have also offered recent webinars that may help you to become more familiar. This one is on how to use our block editor to create custom blog pages that are quite impressive:
Hope that helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions.
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Thank you very much – I am so thrilled to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I have to leave in a couple of minutes for the rest of the day, but I will follow up with your suggestions tomorrow. Once again, many thanks! Hugs, Danny
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