Theme changes on its own

My site was doing this too, or rather is. It keeps reverting to the default theme since I upgraded wordpress. I have renamed my theme to be the default and that works, but I feel its something of a hack.

Is this a known issue? Is there a ‘proper’ solution?

Many thanks
Laura

I have been having the SAME problem for a while now. It reverts to the original theme created by word press. Now, the font is huge and pink and blue. HELP. This is extremely frustrating.

the theme is see on your site isnt the default one, HARAnna.

The problems with the font sizes and colors are due to the validation errors that are viewable here:

https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=https://www.harblog.com/

Specifically, the bold text is caused by that unclosed <strong> tag,

Specifically, again, you have an unclosed <font> tag.

Fix your validation issues and I’m guessing those issues will go away.

I am having the same problem. I believe it is the result of a malicious act, as I have found, in several new posts after changing the theme back to a custom one, a list of pornographic links inserted into my posts. I have changed my username and password, and since, have not seen any more such inserted links, but tonight, I have found my theme reverted back to the default.

It seems to me that someone is changing the theme somehow in order to be able to insert links into posts, but, lacking a username and password, is unable to accomplish the latter.

using 2.3.3?

I am having the same problem with 2.3.3. My theme keeps switching to the default theme.

Same problem with wordpress 2.5 … the theme is switching to the classic once and a while on it’s own .. ARGH !!

There MUST be a solution for this, isn’t there ?? Someone ?? ??

I just put the theme I want in the CLASSIC directory in hopes that it will solve the problem, it’s a waiting game unless I hear something from here ..

Fix the theme. Seriously. Check your web server error logs to see what’s wrong with it. Or, if you installed the WP-Mobile plugin, re-read the instructions to properly install it (just a guess at a common issue)

If WordPress detects a “critical” issue with a theme, it’ll fallback to the Default.

HandySolo

I am new to WordPress and am having a similar issue. I downloaded 2 themes and put them in the wp-contents/theme folder but they do not show up on my dashboard.

Can I delete files in the ‘classic’ or ‘default’ folders and replace them with the theme I want to use?

To all on this thread (and this is from personal experience): do not muck around with the default themes. Leave them alone, do not replace them. If your active theme fails, WP will have nothing to fall back on. Then you will be in a panic because your blog is borked.

When you upload a theme, make sure the files are all in its containing folder. (ie: wp-contents/themes/name-of-theme) No theme files should be alone in the wp-contents or themes folders.

Make sure all necessary files are present:

index
header
footer
sidebar
style.css

Most will also include more such as post, single, archive, comments, search, etc.

Open style.css in a text editor to make sure it has the standard header info:

/*
THEME NAME: xxx
THEME URI: https://xxx
DESCRIPTION: xxx
VERSION: 1.0
AUTHOR: xxx
AUTHOR URI: xxx
*/

Sometimes when I’m editing one of the template files, especially style.css, if someone opens the website while style.css is being uploaded to the server, WordPress thinks that style.css is missing, and reverts back to the default theme.

I’ve been searching all over the forums and this issue of switching back to default theme still seems unresolved everywhere I look. A moderator in one of the threads I read directed someone with the same problem to this link: https://www.ads-software.com/search/switch+to+default+theme?forums=1 and it’s just search results that lead to dead ends.

In my specific situation, upgrading to WordPress 2.7 seems to have caused the issue and I can’t figure out how to resolve it. It seems to be about every 12 hours, the theme (no matter which one I activate) switches back to the default Kubrick theme.

The theme I’m trying to go with is iNove, which is compatible with WP 2.7… the url: https://www.wreckthetapedeck.com/

I feel like it should be an easy fix but I can’t figure it out. I was running this blog for 2 years with no such problem, recently upgraded to revitalize the blog.

All my themes have been properly uploaded here:
/wp-content/themes/name-of-theme

All the necessary files are in place:
index
header
footer
sidebar
style.css

The style.css also has the standard header info:
/*
THEME NAME: xxx
THEME URI: https://xxx
DESCRIPTION: xxx
VERSION: 1.0
AUTHOR: xxx
AUTHOR URI: xxx
*/

When I login to the backend and go to “appearance” it will list “iNove” as my current theme, even though it’s appearing as Kubrick.

No themes are listed in the “Broken Themes” field.
I have 3 active plugins, which are all be compatible with WP 2.7 according to their sources.
Tonight I’ll deactivate them and see if my theme is still there in the morning, but barring that, I’m at a loss of what else to do.

Can anyone shed some light on this matter?

Thanks.

Short answer: Put your theme in the default folder. Then it can’t revert to anything but itself.

Long answer: This is usually a sign of a flaky server. When the active theme is not found or not accessible by WordPress, it switches back to the default theme. Any number of server problems can cause that to happen.

Hey Otto,

Well, I did as I said last night and de-activated my 3 remaining plug-ins. It has now been over 12 hours and I’m on a different network at my office and the proper theme is appearing. I’m hoping it was just a bad plug-in and not a flaky server. The only strange thing is that all the plug-ins claimed to be compatible with 2.7… Oh well.

If the problem persists I’ll check with my host.

Thanks!