How to add WP to an existing website and then redesign the site

  • I think I messed up. I’ve been trying to use WP to edit the look of my 9-year-old site to match my Blog page\section. I designed it using Dreamweaver and I now know it’s a horrible design. I used my theme to create pages (set to private so they couldn’t be seen)) and then copy all the code\script into Dreamweaver to overwrite my old design of the “root” directory – the main site\domain (BTW, I still have the original html files). And I’m getting all sorts of speed issues when I check it in Google PageSpeed Insights. I know I will have to repeat that process anytime I change my custom header, sidebar or footer – not the best method. I hope that makes sense.

    Here is what I did when I first installed WP onto my site: from the cpanel of fairmountpetservice.com I clicked on the WordPress icon to install it. I installed it as fairmountpetservice.com\Blog (is that where I went wrong) and it either defaulted to the public_html folder or I chose that folder. Is that what you are supposed to do when you add WP to an existing site?

    OR – maybe my question should be: after installing WP onto your existing site, how do you use it to redesign your site? I already have domain and page authority for my site. My HOME page is and always has been https://www.fairmountpetservice.com. When I tried to create a HOME page from my dashboard it was created as fairmountpetservice.com\Blog\Home. Does that make sense?

    Did I go about the redesign wrong or did I go about the original WP install wrong? Can I fix it by copying all the contents of my public_html\Blog into public_html? I’m hoping that the php, css and other files will help with the speed problem if they reside where the website pages are. Or did I setup WP wrong from the start. Does anyone ever add WP to an existing site, then use WP to redesign that same site?

    I am using Elementor with OceanWP child theme.

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

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Thread Starter Jim

    (@kernix)

    Just watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQL31otQroQ&list=WL&index=66

    Do I move\copy the WordPress Folder (named Blog in my case) into the public_html folder? And then I assume I can just use the pages (set to public) I created to overwrite my existing pages. It sounds like I will have to change my permalinks, but will that affect my anything esle like redirects, my https that my host forced for me, etc?

    You do not add WordPress to an existing site. WordPress is a stand alone Content Management System.

    If you are trying to replicate an old HTML site into a WordPress site you can download your html files and save them on your computer. Install WordPress in Public_html, install a theme and them copy your old html content into the pages you want to keep.

    Thread Starter Jim

    (@kernix)

    Sorry – I added a blog to my site using WP. I already have the files on my desktop. I have WordPress installed in a folder in Public_html which is also where my html files are. I added a blog page I guess you would say to my site. I do not want to lose any domain or page authority to the pages of my site.

    What I found out that I may be able to do is move the contents of WP into public_html, that is in a folder called Blog in my Public_html folder. Before that though, I have to make the changes in my WP settings-general tab dealing with the 2 URL addresses there. Then I think I can publish all the pages I created (now set to private) in WP that I gave the same name as the pages in my public_html folder and I think that will do the trick. Though I’m unsure of my home page which is index.html and then the permalinks that I have to change. Then I guess I have to delete the old pages right away or else I’ll have 2 of every page name – my originals in the public_html folder and ones with the same name in a WP database somewhere.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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