What Would Happen After Changing Your WordPress Theme
October 18th, 2016 | by Ravi Chahar || 13 Comments |
There are many themes available for your blog on the internet. Are you thinking about changing it? Have you ever thought what would happen after changing your WordPress theme?
When you have a fully customized theme on your blog and you want to change it just because of another beautiful design. Then you should know the things to do before changing your WordPress theme.
But here, you would come to know about the settings which can be changed after you switch the theme. For your old theme, the newsletter setting may not work, the menu etc.
In this tutorial, you will know about the possibilities which can happen after changing your WordPress theme.
There is always a confusing point when you choose your theme, but if you have decided to change it then choose the right theme for your blog.
Know The Settings Which May Vary After Changing Your WordPress Theme
There are many things which would look odd on your new theme. Suppose you have added some code then it won’t appear in your new theme.
Though you can update your WordPress manually theme without losing customization still here you will learn about the common WordPress settings.
1. The Header Image May Disappear
If you have used the media uploader for the custom header image then it may be different in your new theme. It’s because every theme is different and maybe your new theme won’t have the option to add a custom header image.
It’s because some WordPress themes have the full header image whereas others have the small image. If you face this problem then go to your theme customizer and check the custom header option.
2. The Favicon May Not Appear
There are many WordPress themes like Thesis which provide the option to add a favicon from the theme only. If you were using such theme and your new theme doesn’t have that option then it may not appear.
To fix this issue, you have to add favicon from your WordPress admin area. WordPress provides the option to upload the favicon image.
3. Your Navigation Menus May Not Appear
After changing your WordPress theme, your old menus may not appear properly because every theme has the different positions to assign to the navigation menus.
You have to create navigation menu again and assign the position from your new theme. It happens most of the time and people fret a lot.
I hope now you can handle it properly. Just go to the appearance>>menus and set the positions.
4. You May Lose Your Widgets’ Appearance
Just like the navigation menus, the widgets settings won’t work properly. It’s because every WordPress theme has its own code to show the sidebar.
To fix this problem, you have to add all the widgets in your new theme again. Whether you have added the newsletter box or the social media icons, add them again.
5. The Background Image or Color Won’t Work
Every theme has its own customization settings and the background image. The image you have added to your previous theme won’t be there.
You have to upload it again in your new theme only if it has the option to do so. Some themes don’t support the media uploader for the background color and image upload option.
6. You May Lose Your Custom Post Types
There are many WordPress themes which provide the option to choose the custom post types. It won’t appear in your new theme.
It’s because some themes show the sticky post others may show the featured post. To fix this issue you can import those posts to your new theme.
7. Shortcodes May Not Work
If you have added the shortcodes in your old theme to control the output of the blog posts then maybe they won’t work now.
You have to add them again. There is no simple fix for them. Every theme has its own support for the codes.
8. The Slider Would Disappear
If your old theme had the slider then it won’t appear to your new theme. All the posts you have added to show in the slider would be useless.
There is no fix for this problem. But if your new theme also has an option to create the slider then you can add those posts again.
9. The Thumbnail Size Would Change
After changing your WordPress theme, there is a possibility that the thumbnail of your posts won’t appear as good as they used to.
It’s because of the size. Every theme has the different thumbnail image size. If you have many blog posts then it would be a problem.
You have to resize all the featured images. If you are a web developer then you can add featured image to your WordPress theme according to your old theme.
10. Your Posts’ Image May Appear Odd
Every WordPress theme has the different layout width. If the content width of your old theme doesn’t match with the new one then you have to resize them all.
Though it happens rarely if you have used the large image still, you should be ready to fix this issue. You know that visual content has a major impact on your readers.
Can You Now Fix The Things After Changing Your WordPress Theme
Changing your WordPress theme isn’t a small decision. If you have many blog posts then it would be quite hard to adjust your new theme.
The settings mentioned above can conflict with your new theme. Though everything can be fixed but still, choose a new theme according to your requirements.
Changing your WordPress theme may cause you the loss of the traffic of your blog if you don’t fix it properly. So always think twice before you change the theme.
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13 comments
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There are many things which one must keep in mind, while changing a theme. One of the most lethal blow to your blog being the drop in traffic. I had to learn it the hard way. My traffic dropped to almost 50% of the original within 15 days. So one must really look, whether changing a theme will change the post structure greatly, as it was the reason I lost my ranking. One must also consult the theme developer and ask them about anyone facing the same issue.
Precaution is better than cure, right?
Hey Jack,
It’s always the best thing to do. You should talk to the theme developer while setting up the new theme. People work hard to get more traffic to their blog and they won’t like it to get it dropped just because of a new theme.
Check your old posts and make sure that every single post gets fitted to your new theme properly.
Thanks for sharing your words.
Enjoy your day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, Most of these issues can be fixed very easily if you know the little bit of coding and plugins, Though it must be kept in mind that every new theme also add few kilobytes in your option table also. So decide it very clearly before changing your theme again and again thus I always suggest a solid theme framework like genesis for blogging niche otherwise a custom theme and then child theme based on that theme so we could not face any such issue in near future.
Thanks ravi for this wonderful compilation. Keep in touch
Hey Rakesh,
I totally agree with you. People should choose the theme which can have all the settings they want. It’s always best to have a list of the old settings so that in the new themes, everything can be set up again.
There are many theme providers like Genesis, Thesis etc. Thanks for your contribution.
Have a great week.
~Ravi
Ravi, my theme uses shortcodes (and I am sure many premium themes do). As you mentioned, I am locked in somehow which worries me a little. All shotcodes will stop working if I ever decide to change my theme.
Is there any plugin or way around this problem? That can take the shortcodes away from my theme and can produce statis HTML etc. which can be imported in the new theme?
Hope you got the gist of the question…
Cheers
Hey Ahmad,
Most of the themes are using the shortcodes. Especially, if the theme has the slider. I haven’t encountered with a useful plugin which can import the shortcodes properly.
The best option is to pick up the shortcode manually from your old theme to the new one. Though it would be a quite techie but still, this is the best option.
~Ravi
Cheers, that is what I thought.
Nice one, Ravi!
I’m the Queen of theme changing! The first time I ever did it, I didn’t realize that I would lose some pertinent pieces of my blog. Easy fix those. It’s good to know what to expect though. I’m glad you shared it.
B
Hey Bren,
I have seen you may times. You like to experiment with new themes. The above-mentioned things should be normal to you. But for the beginner, it’s hard to adjust a new theme for their blog.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, Excellent article about what you may have to fix when changing themes. Like Bren, I like to change themes and have somewhat of a shopping list for “must-haves” with themes. For example, I’m a big fan of header images because they can make your site look unique.
It would be interesting to see which features other bloggers regard as must-haves for themes.
I use Genesis and bought the unlimited package so I can change my theme as much as I want for free. I don’t do that as few child themes meet my must-have list. But I changed themes last month and like the new look!
This will be very helpful to those who want to change themes and don’t know what to expect.
Hey Carolyn,
Before changing a theme, you should always take care of the things mentioned above. If you’re using the same framework then it won’t be a problem but when you switch to any other theme then all the features won’t be the same.
Of course, header image gives a new look to the blog. Most of the people use the full header images. Creating a child theme is like having all the same features of the parent theme.
Glad that you found it helpful.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
~Ravi
Ravi, Awesome post. I don’t see such type of unique guidance and ideas aimed at helping bloggers else on the Internet. Thanks for your efforts, and good work!
Hey Waqar,
It’s good to know that you found it helpful.
Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great week ahead.:)
~Ravi