Customizing a Theme before going live

  • Hello,
    Am I missing something? I’ve been searching the forums and web looking for a way to customize and build out a new theme while the old one is still visible to the public. I have found plugins like “theme switcher” but they have not been updated in 2 years.

    I want to build the new theme with my existing content then switch themes when it is ready, all while the old site is still accessible to the general public. Is this possible?!?!?!

    I have seen posts on building the theme on a subdirectory but I am worried about destroying all my link building. Is this the only way? Will I loose all the link juice I’ve created?

    Thanks in advance,
    ebphotog

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

  • Hi there!

    To avoid downtime when customizing a new theme I like to use a tool such as ManageWP which has a ‘clone feature’.

    With this you can create your new site on a test domain (or locally) and then copy everything over with just one click.

    I hope that helps!

    Luke the Daft Duke

    Thread Starter ebphotog

    (@ebphotog)

    Thanks Luke! Does that protect our links as well? Is there a lot of set up before I can move forward with ManageWP?

    I am not web designer. I am a photographer who builds a site when he needs it.

    Thanks,
    E

    No, there’s not a lot of setup, it’s really quite simple, best tool I’ve ever used.

    Just install their plugin on the source site and destination site and click ‘clone’.

    I guess it could affect your links – i.e. if you had backlinks going to a specific page url and that page was removed.

    I don’t think if would affect your page rank, as long as everything is still all search engine friendly.

    But I’m no expert when it comes to Google ??

    Good luck with your new design!

    Luke the Daft Duke

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