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Quick Tip: User Level Themes for Client Site Reviews in WordPress

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Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don't hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website!

Recently I launched a couple of websites using WordPress and instead of using a temp directory for testing/client review, I used a plugin & theme instead. Using this technique I didn’t have to worry about moving directories, changing the WordPress directory/blog URLs,  or checking image sources in posts. Here’s how I did it.

First of all, the two tools I used were User Level Themes plugin and any old Coming Soon Theme.

  1. Install both tools and activate User Level Themes
  2. Make your coming soon theme the default theme (Note: with User Level Themes, this won’t matter; but it will later when we deactivate User Level Themes)
  3. Go to Appearance->User Level Themes and scroll down. You will see three options (screen shot below)
  4. The default theme will be your current default theme. Again, this won’t really matter while User Level Themes is active.
  5. For the Administrator Theme, make it the theme your developing. This theme will only be available to those who are logged in to WordPress.
  6. For the Visitor Theme, make it your coming soon theme. This is for anyone who is not logged in.
  7. Create a username and password for your client(s). Be sure to send instructions explaining that they must be logged in to see your theme.
  8. Once everything has been approved, deactivate User Level Themes (at this point your default theme wil take over) and change your default theme (Under Appearance->Themes) to your shiny, new, client approved theme.

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