Let’s say a client contact me and request to edit a Wordpress Theme that he purchased and I don`t have experience in working with Wordpress, but I do have the necessary creativity to make that happen, referring to the design part.
I mention that my experience with Wordpress is somehwere 0.001%, to have an idea, so I’m confronting with a lot of uncertainty.
My first question is :
How do I do it? Should I ask the client to give me the password and username in order to log in and edit the Theme and after I finish the work and the Theme is successfully modified with the client’s content, then he will change the password again?
I’m not sure how this is done. I read some information on the internet and there was mentioned something about setting up a database, something regarding hosting…etc. I don`t really understand this. Do I need these steps, or just, as I mentioned above, should I ask the client to share the password and username to log in as the person who edit the Theme and nothing more?
I would be very grateful if someone who knows how this is done, will clarify this, explaining it to noob with very simple words.
If you don’t have experience with WordPress, you shouldn’t be touching the site. There is a lot to know, including creating a child theme if there isn’t one, how pages load in WP, how themes work, etc. If you have any experience with static HTML sites, this is very different. You can’t just replace a page if you screw up. Content is stored in the database, separate from the theme and site structure.
On top of that, if you’re just going to be designing, then you shouldn’t start by touching the theme unless it’s a minor tweak—and you have experience with code and WordPress and how that particular site is set up, which could be very different from the original theme.
Having said that, we do not make design changes on live site. They are usually done on a staging site first.
It sounds like you just want to make some design changes, so my suggestion is to create design comps for whatever is being requested then work with a developer to implement them.
Unless we’re redesigning a site, we will not take on sites with certain themes, and we require that a client have a good host with staging capability in order to maintain it. Otherwise, it’s not worth it, too much hassle.
I just need to know what is the process. This is not the first time when I’m using a website builder (I used Jimdo), I said I do not have the necessary experience with Wordpress, but I’m able to understand the system.
One clarification I need to know is that :
should I ask the client to give me the username and the password in order to log in and edit the purchased Theme?
… or, should I also create a database in order to edit the Theme, or the Theme is stored in the database created by the client (his own domain and everything)
What I read between the lines is, “thanks for the advice, but I’m going to ignore it.”
To answer your core question, yes, you’d need to get a user name and password to log in and edit the site. But you’re asking such basic questions, all sorts of red flags are flying up the poll.
Are you prepared to make a backup of the site in case something goes wrong?
Do you know how to make and edit a child theme?
Do you know why you should make and edit a child theme?
The client already has the domain set and the premium Theme installed.
Yes, I know I need my own username and password, but what I need to know is that, if I have to edit the Theme on his domain, do I need the username and the password of the client, not mine, right?
As for the backup, I will use a plugin to achieve that.
The client has purchased a specific Theme and he already installed it. What he needs now, is to add his own content.
I’m able to do that, as it is not so complex, my uncertainty is how do I do this, by asking him to share his username and password?
And yes, I don`t know why should I make an child theme, or why it is necessary.
I hate to say this, but you’re in over your head on this given your lack of experience.
Wordpress is not a website builder (it’s a content management system from which stand-alone websites can be built). It has little resemblance to something like Jimdo. Instead, you need FTP or SFTP access to a web server configured with, usually, php (server scripting language), mySQL (database) and Apache. (server software).
If it hasn’t already been done for you, you’ll need access to some kind of control panel that enables you to create the database on the server and install WordPress. Some hosting companies make this process easy by having preconfigured scripts that do it for you. Some don’t, and in those cases, you’ll need to do it all yourself.
Assuming you’re not just logging into someone else’s already configured WordPress installation, you’ll, first, need to get WordPress installed and running out of a database on the server before you can start doing what you need to do with it, like installing prebuilt themes and adding content. If you’re just working with someone else’s site that’s already mostly set up, you won’t need to worry so much about that part.
I’m not even sure you know what editing a WordPress theme means. At it’s simplest, it means working within the predefined options of that template through the WordPress admin pages to choose those options you like (which you can probably figure out).
Really editing the theme, however, means using a text editor and manually hacking your way through the php, html, css, javascript and whatever else that might be spread out across dozens of different files for which there is typically no roadmap or set of instructions to guide you.
Entire books are written on this subject, so there’s no way I can get you so much as even started on this here.
Those are very good questions, but your confusion over these things indicates that you’re just not ready to take on a job where you will be required to know these things (and a hundred times more) inside and out. Beyond just logging in to a pre-installed and configured WordPress site and picking colors and typefaces from an already installed theme, this stuff gets very hard very fast and requires a good deal of technical know-how.
Thank you very much Just-B, for the reply. I really appreciate that you took your time and explain this in detail! Your reply is very helpful for me!
Assuming you’re not just logging into someone else’s already configured WordPress installation, you’ll, first, need to get WordPress installed and running out of a database on the server before you can start doing what you need to do with it, like installing prebuilt themes and adding content. If you’re just working with someone else’s site that’s already mostly set up, you won’t need to worry so much about that part.
My job is only the design part. So, what I understand from this is that, I must communicate to the client to create a database and take care of everything in this regard for himself and then to simply give me the access to only edit the Theme.
Thank you again for your shared information! Helps me a lot to better understand the process. The rest, I will figure it out. This part was the most unclear to me.
Installing WordPress isn’t difficult assuming you know how. If that’s the client’s responsibility and not yours, I guess you don’t need to concern yourself with it.
Again though, I’m not sure you understand what editing the theme means. If it just means logging in to the admin panel, then choosing whatever limited options that particular theme provides, it’s fairly simple.
There are probably thousands of themes available from various places. They all approach things differently and offer different capabilities. Either you or your client will need to select the right theme, then install it and work within what ever capabilities and options that theme might have. There’s typically not a whole lot of design work — the theme is already designed, and you’ll mostly just be picking a few options.
Really editing a theme (or building one from scratch), however, involves figuring out, writing and editing various theme files, all of which are comprised entirely of code written in several languages that interact with one another. This is much more difficult. Getting good at it can months, if not years.
Thank you again for the useful information you are sharing!
I will simply install the WordPress without creating a database or a server, because I do not own the website, I just edit it for the client. So I guess is his job to take care all of these things.
Again though, I’m not sure you understand what editing the theme means. If it just means logging in to the admin panel, then choosing whatever limited options that particular theme provides, it’s fairly simple.
Yes, I just logging in to the admin panel and simply edit it as much as the system allows me.
The client already picked a Theme, all that he asked is to edit it, adding his own content, and of course, using different images and colors to match his brand style.
My concern was how to get access to the admin panel in order to edit his WordPress Theme. But, now things are more clear to me thanks to your answers! Thank you!
You cannot run WP without connecting to the database. You’re not ready to take on this work. I provided guidance on what you could and should do based on what you stated about just doing design, but it’s fallen on deaf ears.
The rest, I will figure it out.
Um, no, you won’t. You need to be taught it or learn it somewhere. I have 20+ years of code experience and I still had to learn things about WP because it’s very different from just coding some HTML and CSS.
If you already have Wordpress installed and connected to a database, like Creativeboost mentioned is necessary, the WordPress admin panel can usually be accessed from your browser by adding /wp-admin to the end of the URL where WordPress is installed. For example: YourSite.com/wp-admin.
You’ll need a user name and password, which the person who installed WordPress for you should be able to supply you with. Again, though, there’s not a whole lot you’ll be able to design from inside that admin panel / dashboard beyond choosing from whatever built-in options the theme gives you.
After dumping all those ‘assets’ and then messing with Custom CSS and tweaking code snippets (not to mention the PHP itself) … then comes all the updates … lol … to both the theme and all those plugins.
Can you say … white screen of death!
I’ve always found best practice! to be taking the time to set things up in a well controlled dev enviro such as using local host. I’m on windows so I use wamp.
Uploading and downloading WP files is another matter altogether.
I used to use that approach with MAMP on my Macs. Lately, I’ve just been creating two separate installations on the server and hiding the dev environment with an .htaccess password. It might not be the best practices way to do things, but for me it avoids the database migration, php upload limitations and file permission problems that seem to plaque my localhost to server moves.
