wordpressguru.eu

I just got a question from a friend who asked me if it’s possible to customise a new theme while keeping her Wordpress site available to normal visitors on the old theme. I didn’t think this was possible, so my first instinct was to suggest using Maintenance Mode to put the site offline while she’s customising the theme. I’ve used this plugin extensively in the past, but it was always involved in the creation of a new site; and she didn’t really want to expose her user to any downtime.

That’s when I came across Theme Test Drive. It’s a plugin that lets Administrators see and customise one theme, while everyone else uses the standard theme. It’s particularly useful if your new theme has dirty tricks like hidden links or links to the “best colon cleanser” site that you really prefer search engines not to see. It’s a great addition to a Wordpress developer’s arsenal and comes very well recommended.