Title: Theme Editor ~ Cannot Save Changes
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Theme Editor ~ Cannot Save Changes

 *  Resolved [LauraOnline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lauraonline/)
 * (@lauraonline)
 * [15 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/)
 * Hello,
 * I’m in Theme Editor to add something to my sidebar, but when I go to the bottom
   of the page to click the Update File button, this message appears instead:
 * _“You need to make this file writable before you can save your changes…”_
 * I have edited the theme files before without a problem, so I’m not sure why this
   message would appear now all of a sudden.
 * But I opened up my FTP file to change the permissions on all the files in the
   Theme I’m working with… And only one theme appears in the file. (same with the
   plugins folder, only one plugin shows up)
 * Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

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

 *  [kmessinger](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kmessinger/)
 * (@kmessinger)
 * [15 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/#post-1985486)
 * You are changing code in/for the sidebar? Or just adding a function? But not 
   using a widget? Sorry, not clear to me.
 *  Thread Starter [LauraOnline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lauraonline/)
 * (@lauraonline)
 * [15 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/#post-1985493)
 * Well Yes, I had to change the code to take out the newsfeed thing. And now I 
   will have to change it again to get rid of the mess I’ve made…
    And I’ll have
   to edit the code on the other pages so that my sidebar appears on all pages. 
   But that doesn’t really matter. =)
 * (OH and you are a brilliant human being! Thank you, I shall resort to widgets
   in the future once I get this mess sorted out. Thanks!! Haha…I’m a brand new 
   WordPresser.)
 * The problem is that I can’t save changes in the editor anymore. Not sure why.
 *  [kmessinger](https://wordpress.org/support/users/kmessinger/)
 * (@kmessinger)
 * [15 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/#post-1985506)
 * What newsfeed thing? Is this part of your theme?
 * As I recall you only need to edit one file for the sidebar to appear on all pages.
   If someone else knows where let me know otherwise I will figure it out – I did
   it on my blogs but so long ago I forget where.
 * I would advise deleting wp-admin and wp-includes folders. Upload fresh copies
   to the server. DO NOT mess with wp-content. Also, disable all plugins and switch
   to the twentyten theme and see if you can then save.
 *  Thread Starter [LauraOnline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lauraonline/)
 * (@lauraonline)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/#post-1985762)
 * Hey, thanks so much for trying to help me out with this!
    I tried doing what 
   you suggested, but I think there were other folders that were messed up or something
   so it didn’t work.
 * I’ve hired someone to fix things for me now.
 * Thanks anyway! Really appreciate your time. =)

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

The topic ‘Theme Editor ~ Cannot Save Changes’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [editor](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/editor/)
 * [file](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/file/)
 * [save](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/save/)
 * [writable](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/writable/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [LauraOnline](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lauraonline/)
 * Last activity: [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/theme-editor-cannot-save-changes/#post-1985762)
 * Status: resolved

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