{"id":4191,"date":"2022-04-15T09:26:05","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T06:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/?p=4191"},"modified":"2022-09-16T10:40:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T07:40:01","slug":"how-to-change-a-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/how-to-change-a-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change a WordPress Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Completely overhauling the look of a website can be an exciting prospect. It usually means you’re re-branding your online business and presenting visitors with a fresh new identity.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you rush the process, you risk making <\/span>mistakes that could prove quite costly<\/b>. Let’s see how to avoid them.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Install a New WordPress Theme<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We’ll start with the basics and discuss what you need to do to <\/span>change your <\/b>WordPress<\/b><\/a> site’s theme<\/b>. The steps below are pretty straightforward.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard.<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The default login URL for the <\/span>WP dashboard<\/b><\/a> can be reached by adding \/<\/span>wp-admin to your domain name (e.g., <\/span><\/i>domain.com\/wp-admin<\/i><\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

2. Go to Appearance > Themes and click Add New<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The <\/span>Appearance <\/b>> <\/span>Themes <\/b>page shows you a list of all the themes currently installed on your website. Click the <\/span>Add New <\/b>button to set up a new one.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

3. Upload or find your theme<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The following steps depend on where you’re getting the theme from. If it’s available on the <\/span>official WordPress repository<\/b><\/a>, you can use the search field to find the design. Then, it’s a matter of clicking the <\/span>Install <\/b>button.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If your theme is not available on the official repository, you most likely have it as a ZIP file. If that’s the case, you need to click <\/span>Upload Theme<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Use the <\/span>Browse <\/b>button to choose the theme’s archive from your local computer, and then click <\/span>Install Now<\/b> to set it up.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Activate the Theme<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If everything goes according to plan, the new theme will appear on the <\/span>Appearance <\/b>> <\/span>Themes<\/b> page. Go there and click <\/span>Activate<\/b> to apply the design to your website.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the face of it, <\/span>swapping one WordPress design for another doesn’t appear to be particularly scary or complicated<\/b>. However, things don’t always go according to plan, and the actual task has quite a few pitfalls you need to avoid before, during, and after installing the new theme.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Should You Think About Before Changing a WordPress Theme?<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may have chosen the new design for your website, and you already know how to set it up. However, a genuinely painless and smooth transition to the new theme <\/span>requires some preparation<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backup your website<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Creating a working backup before any major operation is absolutely essential. Changing a theme may look straightforward, but even the smallest hitch can result in anything from a broken design to downtime. <\/span>You must be ready for the worst-case scenario<\/b>, and a backup should be at the heart of your crisis mitigation plan.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, you get <\/span>automatic backups<\/b><\/a> with pretty much any hosting service. However, it’s a better idea to <\/span>create a secure copy of your website on your own<\/b> before you change the theme. Your web hosting control panel probably has a tool for<\/span> backing up individual files, folders, databases, or the entire account.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, you can use a <\/span>WordPress plugin<\/b><\/a> to create the backup. Generally speaking, it’s <\/span>the less reliable method<\/b>, but it’s certainly better than nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use a staging environment<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even if you have a backup, you will be much better off if you have <\/span>a development (or staging) environment<\/b> where you can install the new theme and make sure it works well before pushing it to production.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A staging environment takes up storage space, so this is something you should probably bear in mind when choosing a hosting account. Another thing to consider is the availability of <\/span>tools to help you set up a testbed<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some WordPress plugins promise to clone your website and create a testing platform, but they often come with quite a few compromises. Ideally, you’ll want to use a cloning functionality embedded into <\/span>your account’s control panel<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, <\/span>ScalaHosting’s SPanel<\/span><\/a> gives you access to <\/span>SWordPress<\/b> \u2013 a proprietary tool for managing WordPress installations. With it, you get complete control over all <\/span>WordPress installations<\/b><\/a> on your account, and you can also <\/span>clone them with a few clicks<\/b>, creating the perfect staging environment for your new theme.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copy customization and tracking codes from your theme’s files<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The new theme will use completely new files, so try to remember what sort of changes you’ve made to your old design. If the modifications are theme-specific, you don’t need to transfer them. However, if you want to keep some of the elements, you need to <\/span>save the custom code<\/b> and incorporate it into the new design.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third-party services like <\/span>Google Analytics<\/b> also require code snippets embedded into your theme’s files. If you fail to transfer them after the change, you might lose some vital statistics regarding your site’s performance.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put your website in maintenance mode<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If everything goes according to plan, your WordPress theme change will be over in<\/span> minutes<\/b>. Still, to avoid confusing users, you’re better off putting a temporary notice, telling them that you’re doing some work on the website.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do it yourself manually if you have the coding skills. However, most people would prefer using <\/span>a plugin<\/b>. Some add-ons come with, among other things, <\/span>advanced page builders<\/b> that will help you set up a beautiful Under Construction notice for your homepage.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Preview the New Theme on a Live Website<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even if you have a staging site for testing purposes, you’ll still want to take one final look at the new theme to see how it works. That’s why you have a <\/span>Live Preview <\/b>option.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go to <\/span>Appearance <\/b>> <\/span>Themes<\/b>, hover with your mouse over the theme that you have installed, and click the <\/span>Live Preview <\/b>button.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Make sure you <\/span>do this on all popular browsers<\/b>. Developers of high-quality premium themes usually put their products through rigorous testing before publishing them, but you still can’t be sure how different browsers will render all your design elements.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Change a WordPress Theme Through the Database<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A WordPress theme change can go wrong, and if it does, the consequences could be pretty serious. For example, it’s not unheard of to get <\/span>a White Screen of Death<\/b> because your new theme isn’t compatible with another component on your website.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this happens, you could be in real trouble because the problem sometimes <\/span>extends to the WordPress dashboard<\/b>. In other words, you can’t just switch back to the previous theme. In such cases, you might need to <\/span>undo the changes through your website’s database<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do that, log into your web hosting control panel and open <\/span>phpMyAdmin<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Select your site’s database from the navigation bar on the left. And go to the <\/span>wp_options<\/b> table.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Scroll down to the <\/span>template <\/b>and <\/span>stylesheet<\/b> rows. By default, phpMyAdmin only shows <\/span>25 rows per page<\/b>, so you might need to go to the second page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Edit<\/b> the two rows, entering your theme’s slug in the <\/span>option_value <\/b>fields.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You can find the slug of your theme by accessing your account via FTP and going to the <\/span>\/wp-content\/themes\/ <\/b>directory inside your website’s document root. The slug for each theme is its folder name.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How to Change a Theme via the Command Line<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Changing your WordPress theme is also possible via the command-line thanks to a tool called <\/span>WP-CLI<\/b>. It’s another way to bring your website back to its working state if something has gone wrong during the theme change.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You first need to <\/span>log into your hosting account via SSH<\/span><\/a> and navigate to <\/span>your site’s document root folder<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the following command to bring up a list of all installed WordPress themes:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

$ wp theme list<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The table shows you each theme’s <\/span>name, version, and status<\/b>. Make a note of the name of the theme you’d like to activate and enter the following command:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

$ wp theme activate [the name of the theme]<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"How<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

WP-CLI will <\/span>switch the themes automatically<\/b>.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Should You Do After You Change Your WordPress Theme?<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your job may not be over quite yet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You obviously need to <\/span>disable maintenance mode<\/b> and bring the site, along with all its functionality, live. If you’ve set up your Under Maintenance page via a plugin, you might want to uninstall it. It won’t necessarily get in the way, but decluttering your site as much as possible is always a good idea.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t forget to <\/span>implement your customizations and tracking codes<\/b> into the new theme. Tools like Google Analytics are <\/span>particularly useful during these times<\/b>, as they give you an idea of how users are reacting to the site’s new look.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last but not least, use <\/span>a speed test<\/b> to figure out whether the new theme has any significant effect on the site performance. You don’t want a website that looks great but takes ages to load, and sometimes, a bit of optimization can go a long way.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Completely overhauling the look of a website can be an exciting prospect. It usually means you’re re-branding your online business and presenting visitors with a fresh new identity. However, if you rush the process, you risk making mistakes that could prove quite costly. Let’s see how to avoid them. How to Install a New WordPress […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-web-hosting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4191"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5104,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4191\/revisions\/5104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}