website does not match preview

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  dawnlvanderwolf · Member · Aug 14, 2021 at 12:41 pm

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  I’ve just started setting up my WordPress blog, and my preview while in WordPress looks just like I want it to. However, when I go to my website, the header, menu, sidebar, etc are not formatted the same as the preview (and they look awful!). Also, the logo is totally missing from the website view. What am I doing wrong? The website is http://www.familyhistoryjourney.com.

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  aleone89 · Staff · Aug 16, 2021 at 8:55 am

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  Hello there,

  It sounds like the changes being made in the customizer are perhaps in draft mode, rather than set to publish.

  Traditionally on WordPress, this is what this can look like: https://wordpress.com/support/customizer/#draft-schedule-amp-share-preview

  Could this be the case perhaps?

  Just to note, it looks like the site is a self-hosted WordPress site and so this means our support on this occasion is limited.

  I hope this helps!

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  dawnlvanderwolf · Member · Aug 16, 2021 at 5:18 pm

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  No, that’s not the issue – it is published. It’s primarily the header, sidebar and footer that are not showing up correctly on the actual website for me (they are there, just not formatted correctly). HOWEVER, I had someone else check the website and it shows up fine for them.

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  staff-totoro · Staff · Aug 16, 2021 at 11:58 pm

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  Hi there,

  As @aleone89 mentioned, we’re limited in how we can help because we don’t actually host your site on WordPress.com. Your host (Bluehost) uses the open-source variant of the WordPress platform which functions differently than what we offer on our managed WordPress service.

  Because of this we don’t have access to your server files or the ability to take a closer look.

  However, I did take the time to look at the source code for your site and I see you are using the Astra theme. We are not able to help directly and are not familiar with this theme, but the good news is that they can help you with your issue here: https://wpastra.com/support/

  Hope this helps point you in the right direction!

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  dawnlvanderwolf · Member · Aug 17, 2021 at 3:59 pm

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  Thanks – it was the same issue in all the themes I tried. So here’s another question…can I convert this to a wordpress hosted site, while keeping my domain name? Is that possible? Maybe that would help me figure this problem out.

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  staff-doublebassd · Staff · Aug 17, 2021 at 6:00 pm

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  Hi there,

  You definitely can! I am not sure of the source of your formatting issue and whether it is theme related or not, but If you want to move your site from self-hosted to WordPress.com, you can follow the instructions on our support page here:

  https://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-from-self-hosted-wordpress-to-wordpress-com/

  If you also want to still use your current domain once you transfer your site, you can follow the instructions here:

  https://wordpress.com/support/move-domain/incoming-domain-transfer/

  Or you can keep the domain hosted where it is currently and utilize the mapping upgrade:

  https://en.support.wordpress.com/map-existing-domain/

  If you continue to have the same issue (hopefully not!), we’d at least be able to better assist you.

  Please take a look at our support instructions and let me know if you have any questions.

  Thanks,