152 – How to Change Your WordPress Theme
Announcements
- WordPress Webinar
- Learn how to configure WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin
- Friday, November 1st, 10am EST
- Register Today!
- WordPress 3.7 is out
How to Change Your WordPress Theme
Changing your theme is a surprising large job. Here are things to consider:
Before Changing
- Do you really need to change your theme? Or can a simple refresh help things out? Is it causing problems?
- What are the benefits of changing themes?
- Are you picking a responsive theme for a directory? Or are you having one custom built
Preparation
- Backup your site
- Copy and save any customized code from your site for custom functions or widgets
- Copy and save your optin form code and options
- Copy list of plugins that you are using. Export any of the special settings for these plugins
- Note all of the menu items in all menus
- Save any code for text widgets
- Capture and collect all of your social media profile accounts in one area
- Have your logo and favicon ready to install
- Put your site in maintenance mode
- Disable plugins, especially an caching plugins (optional)
Install New Theme
- Install the new theme
- Adjust columns and sidebars to suit your needs
- Set up your WordPress menus. Assign top and bottom menus (if necessary)
- Customize your header and site description
- Add widgets to sidebar
Add Your Images
- Add your logo to the theme
- Set up your content delivery network (CDN) if using one
- Validate that images are sized properly for posts
- Add your favicon to your site
- Upload new header image (if necessary with theme)
Add Code
- Add Google Analytics code (or use a plugin)
- Add customized code from previous site
- Enable sharing buttons if built into the theme
- Tweak CSS for fine tuning
- Edit your footer and menu
Testing
- Test your site in all browsers and devices
- Test links to make sure they work
- Turn on all plugins and make sure there are no conflicts
- Check your sharing buttons to ensure they are sharing the right article
- After a day or two make sure that Analytics is tracking properly
Call To Action
- Sign up for next webinar
- Update to WordPress 3.7
