Change WP theme but keep customizing ability?

General Questions
1

Hi, I feel out of my depth. I created a new WP theme layout, look and feel and setup for a potential client’s website, and that website was created using Pinegrow and WordPress a few years ago. Except, I did not use Pinegrow, and I did not use Blocks (too messy for even the existing site when it comes to aligning text and images).

I’ve worked with WP for almost 20 years, but never with Pinegrow. Creating a website that clients can customize minimally without damaging it, is what is wanted. The current website does that, but it’s looking old already.

The idea is also to make it simple for the client to edit and do adjustments himself (without blocks).

THREE QUESTIONS
1- Can a WP theme built with Pinegrow using Blocks, can that theme be “de-blockified?”

2- Could I “update” the old WP theme with a new one by importing it over the old one? What would I need to to “package” the new theme for this process?

3- Could I clone the website, and update the current theme element by element, without using blocks, and then overwrite the old with the new?

Thanks for any help!

Andre

2

Hi @gotta-be-good

The answer is yes to your three questions BUT you’re clearly hoping for a quick and painless solution to your problem, and unfortunately, the reality is far from simple.
Modifying PHP directly (question 1) in an existing theme is not trivial, as it requires a solid understanding of WordPress’s architecture and coding standards to avoid breaking the site. Furthermore, mixing classic and block-based elements (Q 1 and 2) within the same theme, while technically feasible, adds another layer of complexity. This approach necessitates using JSON configuration files (like theme.json), which demands a deep knowledge of how block themes work—a system that can feel like a potion brewed by uninspired sorcerers (just my opinion). What seems like a quick fix may ultimately lead to prolonged frustration and chronic issues if not approached methodically.
In short: technically feasible, but hardly advisable from a human perspective😁. I think it’s better to start fresh with a clean theme featuring editable areas (customizer) in the classic approach (Q3).

1 Like
3

Thank you,

So to get away from blocks, I started rebuilding this site:
Current: https://officiant-theme.com/

To look more like this (draft site NOT using Pinegrow):
New: Unboring Wedding – Have The Wedding You Want!

I thought I could just whitelabel the site and hide what I don’t want clients to mess with. However, I miss the important part: clients can’t edit these settings which they need to.

So the next question I have is: approximately how much could it cost me to have someone fluent with Pinegrow implement Q3 to look similar to the New version of the site that allows specific parameters to be customized?

Thanks for any help,

Regards,

Andre

4

Sorry I don’t quite understand what you want to do exactly and what the question is precisely.

5

Hi, sorry if that was confusing, it’s probably because for me, it is. So let me try to present this another way.

I’ve been trying to understand how to use Pinegrow to rebuild a theme built with Pinegrow but that needs refreshing (officiant-theme dot com). The project is to create a NEW cookie-cutter WP theme, without blocks, that allows us to set specific customization options for the clients to modify a few things like color, typography. Like it’s doing right now.

This website belongs to a friend who has a wedding officiants business. What he has now works good for very basic sites, but editing content can turn out difficult as it’s using Blocks, which introduces forests of code in the background, and it makes it complicated to edit text or image parameters, like alignment, for instance.

Since the present theme was built using Pinegrow, I thought I could learn by watching a few of the tutorial videos, but after mentions of Tailwind, bootstrap, Github, etc I realized I was out of my depth as I’m unfamiliar with these sites or tools and how to use them.

So I failed. It is exceeding my ability to process and understand how to use Pinegrow with WordPress.

Some content also which would be presented in columns, so all you need to do is modify the text and it will show exactly where it needs to, in a pre-determined spot on the page, or in a page (FAQ page shows drop downs with Q and A, Services posts are displayed in a “spoiler” kind of vertical accordion as shown on the officiant theme I shared a link above.

So what I did was to first build a new WP website, without blocks, using the old site’s content (the one that used Pinegrow to create the theme). Then I thought I could introduce Pinegrow into the mix. But it seems I understood AND did this wrong.

So as a last resort to present to my friend, I’d like to see if there are Pinegrow developers or freelancers able to use or rebuilt that NEW website I built using WP Classic, into a WP website with a specific number of customizations, just like Pinegrow is offering. If so, then I can contact them for an estimate.

Hope that is clearer, :slight_smile:

Andre

6

yes I understand better now. In fact you need a developer to create a custom theme that meets your requirements (specifications). I can’t help you further because I don’t offer services (I’m retired). But I’m sure you’ll find developers who will offer you a quote. Good luck with your project.

1 Like
7

Thank you for taking the time to respond. :slight_smile:

Would you know where I could look for such a developer who is fluent with Pinegrow? I could not find here on this forum. Except old requests.

And/or is there anything else “out there,” software, that could be used as an alternative with less of a learning curve, to create what I’m after? I don’t know how that kind of software would be called.

Regards, and happy retirement,

Andre