Developing Wordpress theme on a live site

Question

What's the best way to work on a WP theme on a live site? So that the users see the current theme and I can see the one I'm working on. I know WP has a preview theme option, which works, but it has a sidebar that lets you go back to the WP management page, which means when I try to inspect the source it has lots of extra stuff that the actual theme wouldn't have.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Answer 1

Working on a live site is not a good idea. All changes you make will be viewable to your users.

You have two options here. The first option is to create a subdomain like test.example.com and install wordpress there. From there you can do changes to the theme without worrying about the live site. Once done, you can just move your theme over to the live site.

The second and best option is to install wordpress locally on your pc. I use xammplite for that purpose. It works the same as a live install, but it is faster making changes to a theme. Also, if you make a mistake somewhere like a syntax error, you can correct it quickly, no need to ftp a file backwards and forwards between pc and live site.

If this doesn't cut it, your last least favored option is to download a maintanance plugin and put your site in maintainance mode. You will be able to see and test your site, and everyone else will see a maintainance notice