How can I test out a new theme without messing with the current one?

  • Hi guys.

    I am intern in a company that needs help with some UX and web development tasks. My current task is that I both need to help them with their current WordPress site and code an entirely new site for them in HTML and CSS, because they want to compare the two options and figure out what they prefer.

    Their wordpress page was built by a developer using something called Fusion Page Builder and a theme called Avada.
    I first tried to edit the page, but there are a lot of things that I can’t get to work, and I cannot get access to the Fusion Builder support because I need a purchase code in order post in their forum, but the purchase code sits with the original developer, who I cannot get in touch with…

    I talked with my boss who was very understanding and suggested using a new theme that offered a similar layout.
    I am aware of how to change themes in wordpress, but I do not feel comfortable messing around too much with the company’s website, which has a lot of user-traffic.

    Is there any way I can safely test out new themes and try out some custom css on a new page without accidently applying it to the current active pages?

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • What you are describing is what the Customizer is for. You can preview other themes without affecting the live site. However, to experiment with a few things and to attempt to convert to a complicated new theme are two different things. Always have a good backup before you start.

    Because of the page builder, it’s difficult to know what is actually in the content portion of the page and what the theme is doing. You should export the content so you can use it on a staging site. You can use a sandbox like https://wpsandbox.net/ or install WordPress on your computer.

    To speed up the option of “code an entirely new site”, you can use WP2Static which is a good option for having an admin panel and generating a static site. You could also export the content into a Markdown format, to use in a different static site generator like Jekyll or Gatsby.
    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/jekyll-exporter/
    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/wp-gatsby-markdown-exporter/

    Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    @wpcoworker We appreciate your contribution to the support community. Please post your answers in the forum rather than directing users off-site to your blog. Doing so makes it look like you’re spamming the forums (albeit with useful tidbits) to solicit work. Thanks.

    @sterndata – my apologies if that is not a good practice. My goal was to write once and then share the same if some other community user needs help on the same topic. But if that is not allowed, then I should stop it.

    Thread Starter liljeqvist

    (@liljeqvist)

    Thanks for your help.
    I will try out your suggestions =)

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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