{"id":4315,"date":"2019-10-25T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/?p=4315"},"modified":"2020-12-11T11:17:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T11:17:19","slug":"change-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/change-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Change WordPress Theme the Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

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You want to change your current WordPress theme, but you\u2019re afraid you\u2019ll lose your data? This article will show you how to change your theme the right way.<\/p>\n

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Why would you change your theme, first?<\/h2>\n

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Multiple reasons for this: you might consider the current theme outdated, as you\u2019ve used it for several years in a row, and it\u2019s not up to par with modern design, features you need to enrich your website or blog, and compliant with current user experience guidelines.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, time has come that you need to change your WordPress theme.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see how to properly change the WordPress theme:<\/p>\n

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Pre-checks (before actually changing the WordPress theme)<\/h2>\n

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You need to check the loading speed of your website before installation of the new theme. A tool such as Pingdom might be useful, to verify that the new theme won\u2019t impede upon the loading speed of your website pages. It’s good to pre-check the speed both of your homepage and of your inner pages.<\/p>\n

What you need to determine is that the new theme should be faster than your previous one.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t lose custom HTML and custom CSS<\/span>. You need to save the custom code you\u2019ve introduced into your website pages, as you might need it later, for your new theme.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t lose tracking code, such as Google Analytics tracking code<\/span>. It might be useful to take the data from the current theme used for your website to the new theme you\u2019ll install and activate. It is to be found in the header of the website, so here\u2019s where to look for:<\/p>\n

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In the WordPress Admin dashboard, go to Appearance -> Theme Editor -> Theme Files -> Theme Header (header.php)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best practice that you include the Google Analytics tracking code here, so you\u2019ll need to search the code you\u2019ve included for your website in the header.php file.<\/p>\n

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Make full backup of your website or blog<\/span>. You need to stock your website data, before switching to a new theme and experimenting website pages display in a new format.<\/p>\n

For a complete guide to backups, you can refer to this article<\/a>. You can use one of the plugins listed in that post, to make a backup for your website before proceeding to the actual installation and activation of your new theme. UpdraftPlus will do a good job at creating the backup of your website, and keeping it safe from unwanted modifications that might appear after switching to a new theme.<\/p>\n

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Download plugin<\/a><\/p>\n

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During the installation of the new theme<\/h2>\n

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Keep your website in maintenance mode<\/span> while you make the transfer from one theme to a new one.<\/p>\n

To do so, you can add a plugin that\u2019s specially designed for this purpose, that is to display Maintenance Mode for a website that\u2019s undergoing some changes.<\/p>\n

The plugin is \u201cComing soon page, under construction & maintenance mode by SeedProd\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Once you install and activate the plugin, you have the option to enable maintenance mode, like shown in the screenshot below:<\/p>\n

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Click Save All Changes, to keep the changes while the transfer is being done.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the message users will receive during the transfer:<\/p>\n

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Review the steps needed for installing your newly selected WordPress theme.<\/span><\/p>\n

You need to:<\/p>\n