Updating existing site without closing it down.

  • Unknown's avatar
    hattifurze · Member ·

    Hi,
    I have been tasked with updating an existing site on WordPress. However, I want to be able to create and start working on a new themed version from scratch without taking the existing site down. Then switch them over/turn the existing site off. Can you tell me the best way to do this without emptying or changing the existing site.

    Many thanks Harriet

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

  • Unknown's avatar
    torres126 · Member ·

    Hi there, are you working on http://winesakesocialdotcom.wordpress.com/? If so, you can make changes in the Customizer and it will save, including if you close your device. You can then recover these the next time you edit your site, and provided you do not publish the changes, only you will see them.

    Customizer: http://winesakesocialdotcom.wordpress.com/wp-admin/customize.php

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    Just to clarify a bit – if you go to My Site ->Themes and select a new theme there, you should have the option to “Try and Customize” the theme instead of activating it. That will apply the theme inside the Customizer where you can then make further changes and save them as draft changes, until you’re ready to publish.

    If you’re working with the self-hosted WordPress software (which I suspect might be the case as the only site in your WordPress.com account, http://winesakesocialdotcom.wordpress.com/, is completely empty), you can still use the Draft feature of the Customizer. Or if you’re looking at a more comprehensive overhaul also affecting plugins and content on the site, the common practice is to use a staging site instead.

    There are many tutorials online for using staging sites, and some hosting providers even provide their own staging setup, so also check with your host directly on the options they have for this.

  • Unknown's avatar
    hattifurze · Member ·

    Thanks for the responses. No it is not for that site but a different one which I think may still be being managed on the old WordPress site, as such I believe I would also need to migrate and update it before beginning to work from it as it currently stands.

  • Unknown's avatar
    torres126 · Member ·

    What is the URL of your website, and do you intend to migrate it to WordPress.com?

  • Unknown's avatar
    hattifurze · Member ·

    The site is already on wordpress but it could be that it is hosted on an older version of wordpress. The site it https://britishsakeassociation.org/. I ideally want to be able to create a new site which I can keep separate and entirely offline whilst I develop it and then move the domain to the new site and switch off the old site altogether. Is there a way to do this?

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    Sure, hattifurze. Here’s what I would do then:

    First, sort out any ownership issues. The other site is under another account. If that is your account, I’d create the new site with that username instead to keep things simpler.

    If that’s someone else’s site (like a client) you will need to work with them on some of these steps, as your current account does not have sufficient permissions. It’s probably easiest if they add you to their site, and you add them to the new one.

    Then:

    – Export from the existing site
    – Create a new, private site
    – Import into that site
    – Configure the new site as you’d like

    Once your new design is done, if you get a lot of new content or comments on the old site while the new one is being developed, you can export and import again to catch any changes.

    Then the site’s upgrade owner would need to authorize support to switch the domain to the new site.

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