Missing theme file on server but cannot access via administrator

  • [ Moderator note: moved to Fixing WordPress. ]

    Hello,

    I updated to version 4.7.1 today and also updated themes and, stupidly, the active theme that had been custom built for our site. I will call this theme-a. Fortunately, I did back up our site before the updates, but once the updates were completed, the theme had disappeared and had been replaced with a different one, of a similar name: theme-A.

    Following this, I managed to downgrade from 4.7.1 back to 4.6.2, and as this did nothing to resolve the missing theme-a issue, I tried installing theme-a via the WordPress administrator, which said, “The package could not be installed. The style.css stylesheet doesn’t contain a valid theme header.”

    Interestingly, when I look in the wp-content folder on our server, the files for theme-a seem to be there, but it simply will not appear on the WordPress administrator interface. I have manually replaced the theme-a file that appears in wp-content with the theme-a file from my back up, but this also does nothing, and the only theme that continues to be accessible in the administrator is theme-A.

    What can I do to access theme-a again?

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

    (@contentiskey)

    was theme-a completely custom built for your organization or a customized child theme? if yes, then I would recommend getting in touch with the original developer.

    is theme-a a child theme of theme-A?

    Thread Starter elenahopejp

    (@elenahopejp)

    Hello,

    Thank you for your reply Lisa!

    I am still waiting to hear back from our developer, as I do not know if it was completely custom built or if it is a child theme of theme-A. I don’t think it is a child theme, however.

    At this point, I looked into one of our earliest backups, and found two themes: twentyten and twentyeleven, which I thought may have been parent or reference themes. These were also updated when I updated the themes, so I deleted the updated versions and uploaded the old versions that I had. I also formatted the header on stylesheet.css in theme-a, following what was suggested on here https://codex.www.ads-software.com/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start and was finally able to upload it through the WP administrator. However, theme-A continues to be the theme that appears.

    I am waiting to hear back from our developer, but is there anything else that I might be able to do at this point?

    Thank you again,
    Elena

    Thread Starter elenahopejp

    (@elenahopejp)

    Issue has been resolved. Our developer sent me the original theme files and I adjusted the header to the following recommended format:

    /*
    Theme Name: Twenty Thirteen
    Theme URI: https://www.ads-software.com/themes/twentythirteen
    Author: the WordPress team
    Author URI: https://www.ads-software.com/
    Description: The 2013 theme for WordPress takes us back to the blog, featuring a full range of post formats, each displayed beautifully in their own unique way. Design details abound, starting with a vibrant color scheme and matching header images, beautiful typography and icons, and a flexible layout that looks great on any device, big or small.
    Version: 1.0
    License: GNU General Public License v2 or later
    License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

    which enabled it to be accepted and installed via the WP administrator. The fact that this did not work with the theme files from my back-up has me scratching my head, however.

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