How do I simplify a site designed by someone else?

  • I’m looking for advice on how to untangle my site so I can use a different theme and simplify the user experience. Two different consultants have created my website over the last 4 years, plus I’ve meddled. Now I’m taking over and redesigning it. There are many duplicate pages, menus that point to either of the duplicated pages, and many other tangles built up over years of neglect.

    It should be a simple site with four main pages, several special landing pages (for promotional offers and newsletter signups, etc), and a blog. I’ve looked at site mapping plugins but I think they’re for a different purpose.

    My experience is: competent computer user, I code my own ebooks in html & css, but limited knowledge of WordPress. I can do this, I just don’t know where to start.

    My site is https://seeleyjames.com

    Any and all help appreciated!
    Thanks in advance,
    Seeley

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Moderator Steven Stern (sterndata)

    (@sterndata)

    Volunteer Forum Moderator

    Untangling is like saying “I’m in a hole. Give me a shovel so I can keep digging.” Make a new site, add a theme, and bring over content as necessary. When you’re done, blow away the old site and replace it with the new one.

    I would start by first making a full backup of your current site, just in case something goes horribly wrong. Then create a subdirectory on your site for development work. Install a fresh copy of WP in the subdirectory, and start developing – try out some themes, cut and paste content, etc. Once you are happy with the new site, make a full backup of it. Then, delete the old site and migrate the new.

    I will Suggets that you installed a new wordpress site in a sub-folder or sub-domain 

    seeleyjames.com/new-site
new-site.seeleyjames.com

    then import you old-site content to the new-site, from their work on the new design, delete all the pages, post, install new plugin and themes you want, when you arrived at the best result you can then migrate to your normal site seeleyjames.com but you still need to backup old site, including database just in case of incasity

    with this option of not loosing you

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