How to safely test a totally new theme?

  • I have spent the last 2 hours searching and reading through the forum but havent found a specific answer to this… I have a new WP 2011 child theme site which is just about finished with only a few minor tweaks left to do, but last night came across a plugin I would like to test out. The plugin will create a totally different look and navigation (based on a full screen background image), so basically I want to try building a totally new site without losing my current theme with all of the current plugin settings, media files etc. and then once both are finished a/b to see which I like most. For the new test theme, I do not need any of the current child theme files, settings, plugins, media etc. and will use the 2011 default theme as the parent for the new test site. Is it just a matter of creating another child theme and then selecting it in the dashboard? Or do I need to create another cPanel folder and start from scratch by installing WP, new test URL, 2011/child theme, plugin and so on? Confused about where to begin with this and want to be sure that I wont lose all of my work.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

  • Just create another child theme (this needs to be a new folder name with the required css file at a minimum), select it, then add plugin…note: any other plugins will still be active, you may need to redo your widgets, etc.

    To not lose your work backup all site files and the database also first.

    Thread Starter HD1234

    (@hd1234)

    Hey thank you for the very quick reply!

    Seems simple enough, just create a new child theme folder and style.css, activate, add new plugin and edit away… for all of the other plugins, if I just deactivate them they will retain their current settings yeah?

    As for backing up everything first, I’ve never done it, is this done in cPanel or via WP dashboard?

    for all of the other plugins, if I just deactivate them they will retain their current settings yeah?

    They should if up to date & well used plugins as they keep the settings in the db

    The files can be backed up with an FTP client such as FileZilla or downloaded with your host provided File Manager – as for backing up the DB, review with your web host suggested method.

    Thread Starter HD1234

    (@hd1234)

    Yep, the plugs (all 4 or 5 of them) and WP itself are all up to date recent installs so hopefully all will be good.

    Thanks for the help, will try backing up via host/cPanel and if encounter any problems with any of the above post up later.

    Thread Starter HD1234

    (@hd1234)

    Just thought I would follow up on this for anyone else that may stumble upon this thread. I did all of the above and managed to get the new child theme up and running safely. However, this isnt a very good method for A/B testing themes, as ‘Seacoast Web Design stated, you’ll need to activate/deactivate plugins and make changes to the appearance, menus etc. to go back and forth between the two themes. I didnt realize until now (this was my first attempt at A/B testing) that themes do not save individual dashboard settings, rather whatever changes you make will apply to all themes you activate. Its very time consuming and a lot of remembering what changes were made in doing so. I guess to properly A/B test a separate cPanel WP install and test URL will be necessary?

    I guess to properly A/B test a separate cPanel WP install and test URL will be necessary?

    I think overall familiarity with WP will make basic theme setups easier – also depends on the themes…

    how about a few simple db switches?

    Thread Starter HD1234

    (@hd1234)

    Yeah, I dunno… I’m fairly comfortable working with the basics of WP, cPanel and child themes now, but messing about with the databases, A/B testing is something I’ve never done.. so rather than spending a lot of time on this and risk losing my work/dashboard settings etc., I think I’ll stick with the current site which after a few minor tweaks will be finished. I’ll be starting a new project and making another new site in the coming weeks, so I’ll start fresh with this new plug and everything then ??

    One can use the new features in WP to test a theme before activating it….not sure what is so problematic here…

    Thread Starter HD1234

    (@hd1234)

    What new features? Are you referring to the “Live Preview” function? That allows for very basic customizations only. Is there something else I’m missing? Can you be more specific as to which new features will allow me to fully design two totally different websites and then A/B test them without the need for changing all of my settings, plugins, posts, pages, menus, product pages, media etc. each time I go from one to the other? Unless there is some secret magic button in WP that I have miraculously overlooked, I think the problem is pretty obvious, I already explained what happened with my attempt at A/B testing two post back.

    Anyway, I have found a free solution in ‘InstantWP that works perfectly fine for me, at least so far, so good. I’m still learning the ins and outs of it (in terms of designing a theme so that I can easily/safely upload it as a child theme later) but for the most part its the same as working with any fresh WP install, a couple of clicks and its installed. Using ‘InstantWP to design my “B” site on my computer allows me to A/B test without having to worry about messing anything up or remembering what I did etc. You can install as many themes as you like locally, fully design each site and test away…

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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