Templates Change Repeatedly Overnight

I have posted this question several times & never received a reply. My client will not accept a website that keeps reverting to a version she doesn’t want. So this is the last time I’m trying with WordPress. I’ve never asked for a modlook, but I’m at my wit’s end. If this doesn’t work, I’m going with Weebly. Completely fed up with WordPress. In the future, I’m charging people double if they want me to work with WP because it’s such a nightmare.

I’ve removed modlook from this topic as there really is no reason for that here.

So where *am* I supposed to post the bizarre fact that my templates change overnight? I edit them & the next day they’ve changed back? Please tell me where to ask that question, because I really have no idea how to fix this.

Thank you.

*Puts on Moderator hat*

Please do not misunderstand me: the modlook tag is for reporting spam, abuse or broken formatting. It is not for requesting more support. That’s really discouraged and not allowed. When you modlook a topic you potentially ping all the moderators.

*Take of moderator hat and puts back on Support Team Hat*

1. Is there a reboot every night that just clears out all the customization?

WordPress doesn’t do that so there must be something else going on. What plugins do you have active on your self-hosted installation?

You are using this theme, right?

https://www.ads-software.com/themes/elucidate/

and by the next morning everything had changed! <b>Everything</b>–the background, the menus, the headers, the footers.

What and where are you making changes? Are you modifying theme files and if so which ones and how?

I apologize. When I hadn’t received a reply to a previous request after several weeks, I consulted the Codex:
“As most of the moderators are volunteers, we ask that if you need moderator help for any reason, you post your request in the forum and tag it with the term “modlook” – someone will come take a look.”

I installed WP from my host, Bluehost. I chose elucidate, and the only plugin I added was Easy Google Fonts. It worked fine for months as I developed the website. I edited many of the templates to get what she wanted. All along the way, no problems. Then on the night of 09/27/16, I sent her the link for the final site, but in the morning of 09/28, everything was reformatted. I thought this was just a glitch, so I reformatted the templates I’d changed, but the same thing happened the next night, and the next, and the next. She says she can’t go with a site constantly flipping to a completely different format. I don’t blame her. I’m at my wit’s end. Any help or documentation you could give me would be much appreciated. I’ve scoured the forums & come up with nothing similar. (BTW, Bluehost says they aren’t doing anything that could affect this.)

Thank you so much for your help,
Rebecca

so I reformatted the templates I’d changed

Did you modify the Elucidate files directly or did you create a child theme?

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Child_Themes

The reason I ask is that WordPress won’t update the files but it is possible something on your host may be fixing the theme files if they are modified.

Try these steps for creating a basic child theme of the Elucidate theme.

1. In wp-content/themes create a new directory named elucidate-child
2. In that new wp-content/themes/elucidate-child/ directory place these two files.

   style.css

   
   /*
   Theme Name: Elucidate Child theme
   Description: A Child theme for the Elucidate to safely make changes in the template files
   Version: 0.1
   Template: elucidate
   */
   

   functions.php

   
   <?php
   add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'elucidate_child_enqueue_styles' );
   function elucidate_child_enqueue_styles() {
       wp_enqueue_style( 'parent-style', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css' );
   
   }
   

3. Once that is done then activate your new child theme named Elucidate Child theme in your dashboard.

If this does not work or you get a white screen then via the Bluechost tools (I think they uses cPanel) just delete the elucidate-child directory and visit https://your-site-url/wp-admin/themes.php and you’ll get reset to the Twenty Sixteen theme and can try again.

Let me know how that works. If it does work then you can make copies of any files you modified and place them into the elucidate-child directory to make them active.

Thank you so much, you’ve at least given me something to try. (BTW, I did modify the Elucidate templates directly through the WP dashboard. I code on jEdit, then copy.)

You’re welcome. ??

Let me know here if that works for you. If there’s a template file you are modifying in the original parent theme directory then copying that file into the elucidate-child directory should work when you modify the copy.

Also I’m going to ask if your host fixes modified parent themes that way. They might, WordPress wont do that and something did that to you.

Also, to better clarify your question: You’re asking why something is happening, but since WordPress doesn’t actually do what you’re describing, then we have no idea.

See, WordPress doesn’t “revert” changes in the way you’re talking about, so, something else is doing it. That’s where you have to start, to figure out what exactly about your system is causing this to happen. All we can tell you is that WordPress has no such functionality by default, so… yeah. Tough one.

Ask your hosting service about it. That’s step one.

@ca-girl

On certain Bluehost plans auto updates for core/themes/plugins do run.

As @jdembowski mentioned using a child theme for your site is the correct thing to do. Then if the parent theme is updated it will not affect the child theme.

So until you have a child theme on the site you can turn off the WordPress auto updates in the WordPress Tools inside of your cPanel.

https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/how-to-update-wordpress#turnonoff

Thanks, Otto and Luke. The first thing I did was to ask my host, Bluehost, about it and they claimed they did nothing. But I will ask them again & be sure to turn off the auto updates in my cPanel. You’ve all be great.

R

@ca-girl

You can easily turn off the auto updated through cPanel, it should take a couple of seconds to do.

Well, gentlemen, that did the trick. Turned out Bluehost was updating templates every night (rep couldn’t explain why). I turned off the auto-update.

Just two last questions, if I may. My old code doesn’t work on these new templates, is that common in updated templates? Finally, why don’t changes in the stylesheet template immediately affect the page? Nothing was working at 3 a.m., when I gave up, but today the changes are all there.

I can’t thank you enough for all of your help. I don’t know what I would have done without you, really, you’ve just been great.

Happy Halloween!
Rebecca

My old code doesn’t work on these new templates, is that common in updated templates?

It should work if the theme is using the standard template file names. Which file are you trying to modify? I’ll see if I can make changes to my copy and if that works in the child theme.

Finally, why don’t changes in the stylesheet template immediately affect the page?

That’s my fault. I gave you the wrong functions.php code. I usually post the one that includes the child theme’s CSS.

Try using this functions.php file instead.

<?php

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'elucidate_child_enqueue_styles' );

function elucidate_child_enqueue_styles() {

    $parent_style = 'parent-style';

    wp_enqueue_style( $parent_style, get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css' );
    wp_enqueue_style( 'child-style',
        get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/style.css',
        array( $parent_style ),
        wp_get_theme()->get('Version')
    );
}

Try using this functions.php file. I installed this child theme on my test installation and it is queuing up the parent style.css first then the child theme style.css second. Any changes to the child theme CSS will take precedence.

As you can tell, I’m definitely a WP newby. I thought that getting Bluehost to stop updating my templates would fix the problem, but they updated it again last night, so all of my changes are lost. I use mostly stylesheet.css, page.php & the header/footers. I write the code in jEdit & copy it to the files via the WP dashboard.

Now I’ll have to figure out how to create a child theme, something I don’t need to take up your valuable time for, so I’ll hit the Codex and see what I can do. Thank you so much again, for all of your help, you’ve been a real lifeline.

Rebecca