Testing New Wordpress Theme

TriedandTested · 8 Aug 2017 at 11:44

I own a domain e.g. www.abc.com

How do i go about testing a new theme etc without effecting the main site? Subdomain... e.g. test.abc.com ? I want to test and fully configure a new theme without it having to take the main site offline.

touch · 9 Aug 2017 at 14:59

You'll need to set it up completely separate on another subdomain/domain with it's own database.

Or, install it locally on your own computer and use your hosts file to point the domain to a local address and then you can set up the website on the correct domain without effecting the live site.

muzzler · 11 Aug 2017 at 10:22

Hi,
There is a live preview option on the installed themes in the themes page on wordpress. Dashboard-> appearance ->themes.
I'm not sure how exact it is though compared to using a seperate domain and trying it!

Swifty55 · 12 Aug 2017 at 12:35

Create its own database, create its own folder within your website and link a domain to it.

EGuitarStar · 21 Aug 2017 at 22:55

Install XAMPP on your local machine, get a copy of your site, a dump of your DB and you can test everything offline to see how it'll impact.

There are many guides available on the web.

touch · 22 Aug 2017 at 10:11

harrygraph said:
Log into your Cpanel

Create a subdomain. that is used for accessing the testing site. For example testsite.example.com.

Go to your File Manager. Make sure that you select Show Hidden Files when you select the directory to be opened.

Copy your Wordpress Files from your current directory to the document root directory created for your subdomain. The root directory usually is the same name as the subdomain that was created. Also, click on the folder that contains your WordPress installation and copy the .htaccess file. This file needs to reside in the same location where you have copied your WordPress files or at the root of the new location. The .htaccess file may contain important references to your current WordPress installation. Depending on your installation setup, you may need to look for this file in the root of the account. For example, InMotion Hosting normally uses a document root of "public_html." Check this location for the .htaccess file if you did not find one in the original installation location for your WordPress site.

duplicate-WordPress-site-for-testing-select-all

Select all the WordPress files.

This will mean it still uses the same database as the live website and there's a very good chance that any changes you make to the test site will break the live site.

If you follow the steps above, you also need to make a copy of the database and edit the wp_config.php file to change the site to use the new db.

Swifty55 · 28 Aug 2017 at 17:18

It would be easier copying the database and linking up a new install of WP to that.

touch · 28 Aug 2017 at 17:25

Swifty55 said:
It would be easier copying the database and linking up a new install of WP to that.

Surely it's better to test a new theme with the current pages, content and plugins? Testing against a new install is a bit pointless?

Deleted member 77746 · 30 Aug 2017 at 20:33

touch said:
This will mean it still uses the same database as the live website and there's a very good chance that any changes you make to the test site will break the live site.

If you follow the steps above, you also need to make a copy of the database and edit the wp_config.php file to change the site to use the new db.

This 100%. Never play with a live site!