Title: Save Live Preview without Activating
Last modified: July 1, 2017

---

# Save Live Preview without Activating

 *  [Delta Skies](https://wordpress.org/support/users/delta-skies/)
 * (@delta-skies)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/)
 * _[ Moderator note: [moved to Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-the-developing-with-wordpress-sub-forum/).
   Please do not use Developing with WordPress for these topics. ]_
 * Hi,
 * I’m sure it must have been asked before but my searching hasn’t found the answer…….
 * I know you can use the Live Preview option to view the changes you make to a 
   theme’s options prior to making the change live. I’m just about to use a theme
   that has a long list of options that I’ll need to alter, some of which might 
   mean me going away and doing something – like getting a image, etc.
 * Is it therefore possible, maybe using a plugin, to save the changes made without
   activating the theme? i.e. a “Save” button rather than the standard “Save & Activate”
 * Thanks
 * Peter
    -  This topic was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by [Delta Skies](https://wordpress.org/support/users/delta-skies/).
    -  This topic was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by [Jan Dembowski](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jdembowski/).

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [Brian – TGL](https://wordpress.org/support/users/w411/)
 * (@w411)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/#post-9280838)
 * You could “save & activate” and just switch back to the previous theme.
 * There are a couple of theme testing plugins I have seen, but most have not been
   updated recently.
 * An article that pertains to what you are looking to do:
    [http://allusefulinfo.com/theme-test-drive-wordpress-plugin-alternative/](http://allusefulinfo.com/theme-test-drive-wordpress-plugin-alternative/)
 *  Thread Starter [Delta Skies](https://wordpress.org/support/users/delta-skies/)
 * (@delta-skies)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/#post-9281137)
 * Thanks for the reply [@w411](https://wordpress.org/support/users/w411/) although
   as one of the comments on the link states you still have to save & activate and
   then switch the theme back which doesn’t do as I need.
 * My only two solutions, as I’m wanting to do it this weekend, seem to be either:
   
   1 – Do the changes on the fly/live environment or 2 – Create a test site and 
   then make the changes on there. Once I’m happy I can then just copy all the settings
   across to the live system.
 * The latter seems the safer way 🙂
 *  [Brian – TGL](https://wordpress.org/support/users/w411/)
 * (@w411)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/#post-9281154)
 * Definitely the better way.
 * A couple of tools I find reliable:
 * You can use Local by Flywheel to set up an easy local machine version:
    [https://local.getflywheel.com/](https://local.getflywheel.com/)
 * If you install:
    [https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/)
 * On both sites, you can export from the live site (keep the export file as a backup
   also) and import on the local site. Just do the reverse when you are ready to
   push it to the live install.
 *  Thread Starter [Delta Skies](https://wordpress.org/support/users/delta-skies/)
 * (@delta-skies)
 * [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/#post-9281177)
 * [@w411](https://wordpress.org/support/users/w411/) – Thanks for the links to 
   these tools. I’ll have a look before definitely heading down the route I said
   above.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Save Live Preview without Activating’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [Themes](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/themes/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Delta Skies](https://wordpress.org/support/users/delta-skies/)
 * Last activity: [8 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/save-live-preview-without-activating/#post-9281177)
 * Status: not resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics