How to Revert a WordPress Theme: A Perplexing Process

As a website owner, you may have encountered a vexing situation where you updated your WordPress theme only to find that some sections of your website are malfunctioning or appearing different than before. This can cause frustration for website owners, but fear not! There is a solution to this mystifying dilemma – you can revert WordPress themes. In this article, we will delve into the perplexing process of how to revert a WordPress theme and recover the previous version.

Back Up and Create a Staging Site

Before you endeavor to revert a WordPress theme, it is crucial to ensure that you have a recent backup of your website. This will ensure that you can retreat from any alterations made during the process. Furthermore, generating a staging site is strongly recommended, as it will enable you to assay any changes before applying them to your live site.

Revert WordPress Theme Manually

The first and most straightforward way to revert a WordPress theme is to do so manually. This method is ideal for those who have made only a few changes to their site and want to reinstate it to the previous version. Here is how to do it:

1. Log in to your website’s WordPress dashboard and navigate to Appearance > Themes.
2. Find the theme you want to revert to and ascertain if there is an available previous version. You can accomplish this by inspecting its details in the ‘themes’ section of your WordPress dashboard or by visiting the theme’s website.
3. If a previous version is obtainable, download it to your computer.
4. Once downloaded, rename the current theme folder in wp-content/themes to ‘old-theme’ or something similar. This guarantees that the present theme is not overwritten.
5. Upload the previous version of the theme to the wp-content/themes folder.
6. Activate the new theme.

Using a Plugin

The second method to revert a WordPress theme is to use a plugin. This method is ideal for those who have made substantial adjustments to their site and do not want to lose them. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to your website’s WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for a plugin called “WP Rollback” and install it.
3. Once installed, activate the plugin.
4. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find the plugin that needs to be rolled back, and click the “Rollback” button.
5. A pop-up window will appear asking you to select the version you want to roll back to. Select the version and click “Rollback.”
6. You should then see a success message. The plugin should now be reverted to the previous version.

Using the Version Control System

The last method to revert a WordPress theme is to use the Version Control System (VCS). This method is ideal for those who have made significant changes to their site over time and require reverting to a particular version. Here’s how to do it:

1. Install and activate a VCS like GitHub, Bitbucket, or GitLab.
2. Set up a repository for your website.
3. Connect your website to the repository by installing a plugin like GIT.
4. Commit your changes frequently to ensure that each change is documented.
5. If you need to revert to a prior version, navigate to your repository and select the version you want to revert to.
6. Download the code and deploy it on your website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, reverting a WordPress theme is not a convoluted process, but it does necessitate some preparation and caution to ensure that your website remains functional. Whether you opt to revert manually, use a plugin or utilize the Version Control System, it is critical first to create a backup of your site and assay changes on a staging site before deploying them on your live site. Adhering to these steps will ensure that your website always runs smoothly, even with modifications or reversions to a WordPress theme.