Wordpress: How do I develop/configure a new theme without touching current theme?

[perochan]

HI,

I have an existing wordpress theme that is live and want to install a new theme and switch it when it is configure ready. However, I don't want to create a local wordpress for development and want to do it on the fly in the production site. I understand that the site needs to flip to the new theme in order to configure it but I don't want that yet until I have everything configured.

 

So how do I develop/configure a new wordpress theme behind the scene and switch to the new theme when it is ready? Do I need to install some kind of plugin? 

 

Thx

[fusi0n]

I usually make a subdomain then use wpclone to move it over. There isn't a way to work on a non-live theme.. 

[perochan]

  On 02/11/2016 at 19:18, fusi0n said:

I usually make a subdomain then use wpclone to move it over. There isn't a way to work on a non-live theme.. 

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I see.

Then, I can probably create a local enviorment and develop there and use WPclone to clone the theme into live site and activate it and will look exactly the same as my local?

[fusi0n]

  On 02/11/2016 at 21:21, perochan said:

I see.

Then, I can probably create a local enviorment and develop there and use WPclone to clone the theme into live site and activate it and will look exactly the same as my local?

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Yes. You'll also need to make some rewrite rules in your wp-config.php after change over. What will happen, all the links will be subdomain.domain.com instead of domain.com
Enter this afterwards, with of course your real domain.
define('WP_HOME','http://example.com');

define('WP_SITEURL','http://example.com');

Also, don't use wpclone, I forgot I had issues with it, and it might not be updated anymore.. But, I started using "All-in-One WP Migration" and it works a lot better.. Also great for backing up your site you don't want to FTP/Export the mysql table manually.. But, your webhost my do backups for you.. I highly recommend using a VPS and install the LAMP stack. When you have that, you can use memcached from the w3 plugin.. Really helps the Google Page Insights speed test that help with SEO reasons. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by fusi0n