Theme Test Drive
Safely test drive any theme as an administrator, while visitors use the default one.
Overview
Compatibility
Installation instructions
Customer support & learning resources
Changelog
Main benefits
Safely test drive themes
Visitors see default theme
Set testing theme options
Preview themes via URL
About this plugin
Author: Vladimir Prelovac
Categories: Design and Customization
Version: 2.9.1
Last updated: 23-11-2015
WordPress version: 2.3
Tested up to: 4.3.34
PHP version required: false
Languages:
Tags:
Learning resources: View resources
Overview
The Theme Test Drive WordPress plugin, created by Vladimir Prelovac, is designed to allow administrators to safely test new themes on their blogs without affecting the experience of visitors, who continue to see the default theme. This transparent functionality means users can experiment and fine-tune new theme settings in the Admin panel without interruption. Additionally, the plugin offers the convenience of previewing any theme by simply appending “?theme=xxx” to the blog URL. Developed on contributions from various other plugins, Theme Test Drive is a free tool distributed under the GNU General Public License, ensuring it is both versatile and compliant with open-source software standards.
Safe Theme Testing
- Allows administrators to test drive any theme without affecting the live site.
- Visitors continue to see the default theme, ensuring a seamless experience.
Transparent Operation
- The testing process is completely transparent to visitors.
- Visitors will not notice any changes while the administrator tests different themes.
Admin Panel Integration
- Administrators can set and modify theme options directly from the Admin panel.
- Provides a convenient way to configure and test theme settings.
Easy Theme Preview
- Allows previewing any theme by adding a simple query parameter to the blog URL.
- Example: http://www.myblog.com/?theme=Default
Rating and reviews
angeljs
08 Feb, 2017
Although I badly need a plugin such as this, once I tried it, all of my settings and widgets from my active theme were reverted and I had to put my site into maintenance mode while I spent 20 minutes configuring everything again!
dumascharlotte
03 Dec, 2016
Same experience as walkerdesigngroup: doesn’t work! 🙁 I feel so frustrated…
MC3
14 Oct, 2016
Seems to work OK with 4.6.1 but it would be good if the developer could conform and update “officially” as it were. I’m finding this plugin invaluable for sites with pupblic-facing themes that are incompatible with the CiviCRM plugin. Civi is a complex plugin and can easily break when faced with themes or other plugins that aren’t well written in terms of enqueuing scripts only when essential. Much of the complexity in Civi is on admin pages, and this plugin solves the problem by auto-switching the theme to something clean for admin users.
carlostalaga
15 Mar, 2016
nice and simple solution to test a theme. be careful with widgets and custom settings for other plugins. thanks
jbeinstein
15 Feb, 2016
A great tool to preview new themes to see if it’s worth changing. Especially for someone that’s not very technical. A+
