{"id":28518,"date":"2021-10-07T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T21:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=28518"},"modified":"2021-10-07T16:56:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T21:56:29","slug":"limit-clients-ability-change-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/limit-clients-ability-change-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Limit a Client’s Ability to Change a WordPress Theme [Expert Guide]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s a nightmare scenario:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of your web design clients calls in a panic because they tried to make a few small updates to the website you carefully crafted for them, and now it doesn\u2019t look right-or worse, it doesn\u2019t work right. Can you help them fix it ASAP? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easiest way to handle this kind of situation is to prevent it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By building some guardrails around what your clients can access through the WordPress dashboard, you can help them make updates with confidence that they won\u2019t break their theme-and you won\u2019t have to scramble to help them fix their sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s an example of WordPress’s Customize menu available, which helps us set up those guardrails: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"WordPress<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maybe this client needs to change their header image from time to time, but their typography and site identity should remain the same for brand consistency<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing your clients with adequate documentation on how they can update specified content on their site through this menu will help safeguard against emergencies. An easy-to-follow step-by-step guide or a screen share walk-through gives your clients the confidence to make the updates they need to, without worrying about potentially causing an error. And unless the client is also a developer or designer, they don\u2019t need access to the administrator settings.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve already read our post on building your own WordPress themes<\/a> using the Underscores template-or if you already know how to build them-this is the next logical step. That\u2019s because what you\u2019ll do to let clients make updates safely is adjust the customizer.php file that\u2019s part of your theme template.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, your web development clients can access whatever they\u2019re allowed to change in the Customize menu. You can set that up so that they can change out text, for example, but instead of editing it on the screen and potentially messing up their site design, they are using role-specific form fields so it’s more of a controlled situation. They can preview it before they publish and make any needed corrections before it goes live. <\/p>\n\n\n

You might like…<\/h4>