Is it time to change your WordPress theme? Is that theme that was so appealing to you a few months or years ago appear lackluster next to all the other themes now flooding the market? If so, here are some things to consider before jumping right in to a wholesale theme switch.
First off, I prefer to use the term ‘changing‘ rather than upgrading since many theme developers release 
periodic upgrades to their existing themes, either to overcome some bugs in the code or to add improvements, or both. So, one can upgrade a theme fairly easy, although you should always backup your WP database before doing so. The WP plugin WordPress Database Backup is highly recommended for this task.
Secondly, before doing anything else, setup a test blog with your hosting service. Typically, this involves creating a ‘Test’ folder under your home directory and installing a current version of WP within it. Thus, you will end up with a new WP site that will look something like this: www.yourdomain.com/testblog. Then, you can either set up your present theme there or install the newer theme(s) you are considering. Having a test blog will allow you to try out different themes and edit them as well as test out different plugins to see if there are any conflicts before rolling out the new theme on your ‘live’ blog.
Thirdly, you need to get the new theme(s) if you haven’t already. For many, choosing a new theme is the hardest part! There must literally be a million choices out there, both free and premium that will cost anywhere from $20 to $100 or more. I have tried about two dozen or more free theme in the few years I have been with WordPress. Choosing a theme will be easier if your site is already established since many themes cater directly to a certain genre, such as photography/graphics, gaming, real estate, technology and so forth. Of course, there are some themes that will apply to any genre and quite a few that are endlessly customizable. Your comfort level with coding and navigating customization screens will determine, to a large part, which theme you choose as well. Almost all themes have a live demo that allows you see the overall look of the site, and screen shots of how the theme’s customization screens will appear in the WP dashboard. This is especially helpful the theme you are considering is a premium or paid theme.
Next, download several themes (assuming they are free!) and then upload them to your test blog (I use FileZilla for this). Then, you can activate and check out each one for yourself. Create some posts, upload some media and generally get a feel to see if this theme is right for your content. A good theme will enhance your content and engage visitors, the result being they will check out the rest of your site, click on affiliate links, etc. The theme should not be too confusing, drawing the eyes here and there or difficult to navigate, causing visitors to leave quickly. Have others critique your new theme & layout. There are web forums that offer this service for free, but you will likely have to register to post your request. Many WP theme designers have their own forums for free support, so check these out as well.
Then, once you are satisfied that the theme you have chosen is the one you want to stick with, you need to ‘go live’ with it. Depending on your site and where you are in the world, picking a good time to roll out the theme may be crucial, for you do not want to do this when your site stats tell you that this particular time is when your site visits are highest! For instance, my site visits typically drop on weekends and especially on statutory holidays in North America. Hence, this would be a good time to apply the new theme when the least amount of visitors would be impacted.
Of course, if anything does go wrong, you can easily revert back to your previous theme and then go back to your test blog to see what the problem could be.
Hopefully, your new theme change will go smoothly and the tips above drawn from my own experience will assist you. If you have any other theme-change tips to share, please leave a comment below.
James M. Fisher is a Microsoft Windows MVP and his site is WindowsTalk.org where you can find tips, reviews, news and more to help you have a great Windows PC user experience.
Cole Stan
Vishal Gaba
Brian@SC Marketing
Vishnu
Deepak Gupta
A nice article with very important tips for all the bloggers making the switch to a new theme…
But James, I have one question, don’t you think that rather than have a test blog set on the server, will it not be more preferable to have it on you local server using services of XAMPP?
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Some prefer to use that route, but some theme developers state their themes may not display correctly unless activated under a live WordPress install. I don’t know of any drawbacks to having a test blog on the same server as my site…it is in a separate folder that can be deleted if I no longer want it.
James M. Fisher´s Last blog ..Free Tool: Acronis Drive Monitor
Having a “data-backup” is a must before changing the themes…
well said …
tricks tips´s Last blog ..20+ Tips Optimize your Site to Load Faster – Reduce Loading Time
James, those are some great tips that you have shared. I think one must be really alert while changing themes cos sometimes things can go very dirty ( has happened many times with me ). Also a theme change should be done on a low traffic day (like you said) so that it has no affect on the visitors as such
Shiva | Web Magazine´s Last blog ..Guide To Improving Cellphone Reception
Exactly. A theme change should be done on low traffic day so as it won’t affect most of the readers.
The second point need more clarification. One should also use same plugin in test environment as some plugin not work good in some theme.
Arafat Hossain Piyada´s Last blog ..10 Tips Not to Get Fired from Existing Job
You’re right. Different plugins have different requirements.
Yes, Arafat, that is correct. One should try and duplicate the ‘live’ blog including all plug-ins in the test environment. Thanks for pointing that out!
James M. Fisher´s Last blog ..Free Tool: Acronis Drive Monitor
Good tutorial for newbies. Questions? Have you experimented with connecting to your current blogs database from your test blog. Or is that not recommended? I mean, instead of creating new posts…you can just see what it looks like with your current content. Is this a load issue for your live blog? Is this even possible? I’m about to try it.
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I’m a bit scared to experiment that. I will try it out in my test blog in my free time. Please do try yourself and tell us the result!
A very nice article for newbies wanna blogger n wordpress keep up the good work.
Adeel
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Thanks for the comment!
Thanks very much; glad you liked it!
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Nice write-up on changing theme. I myself have tested lot many free themes. As for the testing new theme, you can use wordpress plugin like Theme Switch and Preview which allows you to test the new theme before applying it to your blog.
Harsh Athalye´s Last blog ..25 Coolest Infographics For Geeks
That are also nice plugins. Well I prefer having a test blog.
I test new theme on local machine!
Even I do the same. I use Xampp software.
Thanks james. I have a wordpress blog and i need to change my theme often. This tips will really help me.
You’re welcome!
James M. Fisher´s Last blog ..Why Infolinks Makes Me Happy
It requires a mixture of — readiness to learn, curiosity, past experience and an eye for details when it comes to tweaking a WP theme. I love it and don’t mind coding as long as it can give uniqueness to the theme.
Great post…
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Even I love coding…not much really.. Yes at last if I get the required result, I am very very happy!
Thanks for giving us this info, it’s really nice. I don’t usually leave comments.
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Very interesting tips. Best of all, the article is rich in content based on the experience that is James. Thank you very much for the tips, the truth is that the difference between a design worked (thought users) improves the usability of all users, and of course, our traffic increases. Remember it is a highly valued factor in the world of SEO: the user experience. Greetings!
Thanks for the nice comments, Kervin!
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