How to change WordPress Theme Successfully? (without losing content)

One of the best things about running a WordPress site is the option to design your website (or redesign it) — thanks to the variety of themes always available for you to pick from.

All you need to do is to download and change your WordPress theme – and you have a completely new look. Changing themes in the WordPress backend is not difficult by itself; what is challenging is doing so without any website downtime or losing your customized settings and content.

In the rest of this article, we shall discuss how you can change a WordPress theme without losing content or website uptime. First, let us look at what you need to do before you decide to switch to a new WordPress theme.

Things to do before changing themes in WordPress

When you think about it, changing WordPress themes is just a matter of uploading a new theme to your site and activating it. As easy as this may sound, a WordPress theme switch often causes problems such as:

To avoid such problems, here are some things that you must do first:

1. Back Up your WordPress Site

The “golden rule” for WordPress sites is to take a complete backup before performing any major task, which includes changing themes. The idea is that something could always go wrong – but if you have a backup, you can restore your site without any damage.

The easiest way of performing backups is by using a backup plugin like BlogVault or Updraftplus that can automate the backup and restore process.

2. Note the Custom Changes made in your Theme

Many WordPress site owners like to make customized changes to their website theme. If you have also made any theme changes in the functions.php file, make a note before changing the theme so that you do not lose all the customized changes.

The easiest way is to copy the customized code in the current theme files into the new theme file.

3. Test the Page Load Time

All WordPress themes are not optimized for fast loading and can increase the loading time of your website. Before switching WordPress themes, be sure to test the current page load time to know the load time difference after you make the switch.

You can test your page loading time using a speed testing tool like GTMetrix or Pingdom.

4. Make a Note of Sidebar Content and Widgets

Sidebars are typically used to add different website widgets like online ads and external social links. If you use sidebars in your WordPress site, take note of its content before changing your current theme.

If you have added customized content into your sidebar, copy-paste the content into the new theme sidebar. 

5. Make a Note of Tracking Codes

Before changing your WordPress theme, you need to check if it contains any tracking code that is used for website analytics. For instance, many WordPress themes allow your admin user to add AdSense or Analytics codes to keep track of your traffic from the theme settings.

Just like sidebar content, you do not want to lose these tracking codes or website traffic data once you have changed the theme. Hence, we recommend that you take note and copy the codes into your new theme.

6. Keep your Website in Maintenance Mode

Although this is not mandatory, it is a good practice to put your WordPress site in maintenance mode when you are changing the WordPress theme. This is the accepted mode of showing websites to online visitors when they try accessing them – so that they build a negative perception of your brand.

The easiest way of putting your WordPress site in maintenance mode is by installing the SeedProd plugin.

Next, let us look at how you can change the WordPress theme safely.

How can you Change the WordPress Theme Safely?

Here are three methods on how to switch WordPress themes safely:

Let us discuss each of these three methods in detail.

1. How to Change your WordPress Theme using a Staging Site

A staging site or environment is a copy of your live website. You can use the staging site to test any WordPress theme before merging the changes on the live website. This way, you can test for any negative effects of changing the theme without risking your live website.

The following steps are typically how you can change your theme using staging:

How do you set up a WordPress staging site? There are multiple ways, including:

2. How can you Change the WordPress Theme without Going Live?

The next method is to change the WordPress theme without going live. This method is recommended if you want to completely test a new theme before applying it to the live website.

Here are two ways of changing a theme without going live.

3. Using the Live Preview Functionality

The Live Preview functionality enables users to preview any theme on your current WordPress website. Here is how you use this option:

Subsequently, you can apply the selected theme on your live website by clicking “Activate.”

4. Using the Theme Switcha WordPress Plugin

The other method is by installing and activating the Theme Switcha tool on your WordPress site. This plugin is designed to preview new themes without activating them on the website.

Here is what you need to do:

5. How can you Change the WordPress Theme Manually?

If you'd like to get your hands dirty and change the theme manually on WordPress, you can do so using the phpMyAdmin tool and an FTP tool like FileZilla.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

The selected theme will be applied to your live website. 

As you can see, this method is fairly technical, and we recommend it only if you have a technical understanding of the WordPress backend files and the tools you need to use.

Now that we know about changing the WordPress theme let us next see the typical issues that you may face after applying a new theme and how to troubleshoot them.

Read more- This is how you can install and use HubSpot plugin for WordPress

Troubleshooting WordPress Theme Issues After Switching

Here are five of the common issues faced after applying a new WordPress theme and how to solve them.

The theme on your homepage looks different from the demo. 

Solution: This happens when the front page display settings for your activated theme are set to “static page” for your home page. You can either change your frontpage settings or select “your latest posts” on Settings > Reading.

Problem: 404 Error 

Solution: The 404 error is common for WordPress themes using custom post types. To fix the issue, click the Save button on Permalink settings – or update the .htaccess file.

Problem: Blank menus

Solution: This is a common issue if you have installed a new theme after many years. To fix this issue, navigate to Appearance> Menu and either create a new menu or select the menus to be displayed in the “Display Location” option.

Problem: Missing stylesheet

Solution: Upload the “root theme” folder again using the unzipped theme folder on any FTP tool.

Problem: Data import errors

Solution: This happens when you try to upload a sample XML file provided by the theme developer. Ensure that the theme is active and contains the post types (reported on the error).

You're almost there! There are still a few things you need to look into. Let us talk about them next.

Things To Do After Changing the WordPress Theme

Here is a checklist of 7 things to do after changing your WordPress theme:

1. Turn Off your Maintenance Mode

To go “live” with your new theme, you need to first turn off the maintenance mode, which had been enabled before switching themes. If you are using the SeedProd plugin, toggle the setting to “Inactive” from the WordPress dashboard to disable the maintenance mode.

2. Test your Website

Next, you need to ensure that all functionalities of your WordPress site with the new theme are working efficiently. Spend some time on testing your website widgets and plugins using best principles of testing. Additionally, make sure all your website posts, comments, contact forms, and email messages are working as previously. 

3. Check for Cross-Browser Compatibility

Online visitors open your WordPress site on different browsers. Popular browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. To ensure browser compatibility, you need to test if your “new” website looks and functions consistently on all these browsers.

4. Add Tracking Code

After you have tested both the website functionalities and cross-browser compatibility, you can now add the tracking code for Analytics and Adsense. The best way to add Google Analytics code is by using the MonsterInsights plugin. This plugin can smoothly configure website analytics on your WordPress site – and enable you to track analytics data in your WordPress dashboard.

5. Add Custom Changes 

After applying the new WordPress theme, you can now make the customized changes in its functions.php file that are designed for your brand and website look. If these changes have already been made by you/your developer in the previous theme, you need to note and copy the changes from the functions.php file of the older themes folder.

6. Test your Webpage Loading Time 

Another checklist item that you should not forget after switching to a new theme is to retest your website loading speed and time. Check the loading time using the same speed testing tool (like GTMetrix or Pingdom) that you used before applying the new theme.

If there is a major difference, you should consider using themes from StudioPress or Themify that are optimized for fast loading.

7. Remove all Unwanted Plugins or Themes

Unnecessary plugins and themes can be uninstalled as they can impact your website performance and security.

If you have installed plenty of WordPress plugins and themes on your site, this is the best time to take stock and retain only those that you will require in the future. For instance, you don't need to retain too many themes on your WordPress installation. Hence it is best to remove the old and unused themes. 

Final Thoughts

Whether it is to create a new site or revamp your website, WordPress offers an impressive collection of free and paid themes. To make the most of them and change your WordPress website theme, all you need to do is pay attention to the best practices we've recommended in this article. 

We also recommend that you always keep a backup of your latest' best' version if you want to go back to an earlier theme.

To do this, you can use a backup plugin like BlogVault that has scheduled and automated backups in addition to unlimited on-demand backups. So, right before a theme change or a theme update, make sure that you have a backup version whose performance and Appearance you're happy with.

Are there any additional measures that you have used to update your WordPress theme and create a professional website? Please share your experiences by connecting with us. 

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