How To Change Wordpress Themes Without Losing Content

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Are you trying to figure out how to change a WordPress theme? The actual process for switching WordPress themes is adequately simple – but there are some additional steps that y'all should take to ensure that the process goes smoothly.

To help with that, I'll requite yous a beginner-friendly tutorial on the best way to change WordPress themes while preserving your site'south existing content and functionality. But earlier I get to the tutorial, let me start with a quick word almost what happens to your content when yous switch WordPress themes.

Will you lose whatever content if you lot modify WordPress themes?

Before I become into how to change a WordPress theme, I think it's important to apace highlight what happens to your existing content when y'all modify themes.

Most of your regular site elements will not be affected past changing themes. That is, across the new styling that they might get from your new theme, aught volition change with:

• Your posts and pages. Nothing bad will happen to your posts and pages when you switch themes.
• Whatsoever core WordPress settings. For example, if you're using a static homepage, that will stay the same even subsequently you switch WordPress themes.
• Whatsoever plugins that you're using. Every bit long as they aren't tied to your current theme, these plugins should continue to function ordinarily.
• Basic site information. Your site name and description will stay the same.

Simply there are some theme-specific pieces of content that won't necessarily brand the journey when you change themes. These are things similar:

• Theme-specific shortcodes. If yous're using shortcodes that came with your theme (rather than a standalone shortcode plugin), those shortcodes volition cease to function one time you change themes.
• A theme-specific homepage. Some themes, like our Neve themes, come with special homepage sections that part outside the normal WordPress page system in guild to offer more flexibility. If you utilize such a theme, your custom homepage will disappear when you alter themes.
• Themes-specific widgets. Similar shortcodes, some themes come bundled with custom widgets. If y'all're using such widgets, they will cease to office when you change themes.

Additionally, you may need to reconfigure your existing menus and widget areas – but you won't actually "lose" any functionality with them.

In a nutshell, the vast bulk of your content will come through unscathed when you switch WordPress themes. Merely if you're using any functionality that'south unique to your theme, rather than part of a plugin or the cadre WordPress software, you will probably lose those things when irresolute themes.

How to change a WordPress theme the right way

In this section, I'chiliad going to focus entirely on the "how" function of how to change a WordPress theme. Only we've too already written a mail service with some steps to take before changing your WordPress theme.

I encourage you to read that mail service for more than details. But in general, nosotros recommend that you:

• Back up your site
• Create a staging site (if possible)

Once y'all take a backup (at a minimum), yous're ready to move on.

Footstep 1: Install new WordPress theme

To get started, you need to install the new WordPress theme that you want to use.

To do that:

• Go to Appearance → Themes
• Click on Add New

If you lot plant your theme at WordPress.org, you can search for it by proper name and click the install button:

And if yous purchased a premium theme or otherwise have a ZIP file, y'all tin upload the Nix file by clicking the Upload Theme button:

One time you install your new theme, don't click the activate button yet, though.

Pace ii: Preview new theme with WordPress Customizer

The WordPress Customizer has a helpful feature that lets y'all play around with your new theme on a live preview of your site earlier making it active.

This is helpful because information technology:

• Lets y'all see how your new theme looks with your existing content
• Gives y'all a risk to right any problems with menus or widgets

Here'due south how to use the WordPress Customizer to preview your new theme:

• Get to Advent → Customize in your WordPress dashboard

• Yous should see a live preview of your current theme
• Click Change in the Customizer sidebar
• Click the Live Preview button next to the new theme that you installed in the previous footstep

At present, you should see a live preview of your existing content using your new theme:

You can see that, on my instance site, WordPress was actually able to correctly sync up the existing menus and widgets with the new theme.

Hopefully the same happens to you lot!

But if it doesn't, you can also use the Menus and Widgets options in the Customizer sidebar to set up whatever issues that you encounter:

Assuming your new theme makes use of the WordPress Customizer, you tin can too make other tweaks. And you can too click through your site to see how other pages await. For case, if you click on a weblog mail, WordPress will load that web log mail using the preview of your new theme.

Step iii: Activate new theme

One time you're happy with how things look, to brand your new theme live, all you demand to practise is click the Activate & Publish button:

And that'southward it! You just learned how to change a WordPress theme.

Wrapping things up

Most people will want to switch themes at some indicate in their time with WordPress, so learning how to change a WordPress theme is something that every WordPress user should know.

While the actual process itself is elementary, doing it the correct manner helps ensure that yous don't merely switch themes, but also that your site functions merely as well with your new theme every bit information technology did with your onetime theme.

Retrieve, here'southward all you lot need to do:

1. Install your new theme
2. Preview your new theme before activating it by using the WordPress Customizer
3. Make sure your menus and widgets await right
4. Activate your theme from the WordPress Customizer to get in live

If you have whatsoever other questions about how to modify a WordPress theme, go out a annotate and we'll exercise our best to help out!

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How To Change Wordpress Themes Without Losing Content,

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