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Micole Noddle
5,797 PointsMy theme isn't displaying when I visit site and I have no preview option?
I have the twenty-fourteen site activated for purposes of this lesson. When I go to "visit site", the theme doesn't appear, I just get a blog of notices from my host. If I click on "customize theme", the only way I can actually view the theme is if I view it live. I don't seem to have the same options Zac has on his dashboard. I'm not quite sure what to do or how to be able to preview the theme without going into "customize" and viewing it live. I haven't made any changes to the theme or code.
2 Answers
Dustin Matlock
33,856 PointsShared hosting is task to sort through nowadays. I try to avoid EIG companies when possible because they oversell their resources at times.
My recommendation. Go for something like DigitalOcean. They have application installs for WordPress, Ghost, LEMP / LAMP stacks, etc. — pretty much anything you need. They have a huge community and tutorials to get you started, and it's a great way to learn web development.
I can recommend some other shared hosts, but honestly nothing comes close to what DO and other cloud hosting offers these days.
Here's a few shared hosts I've used before with decent success.
Micole Noddle
5,797 PointsThanks for the tips, Dustin. I am not using an EIG Company. I have had this host for over 6 months and paid for a year (while learning web development), so I'm using them to learn WordPress development because I don't want to pay for another host right now. I didn't think it would be so difficult to learn Wordpress though, which makes me think maybe I'm missing something...If I can't preview, is there a good plug-in I should install? I kind of feel like I'm jumping through hoops and maybe some of it is unnecessary?
Dustin Matlock
33,856 PointsNo problem. You might look into Web Hosting Talk to learn a little more on this topic.
Dustin Matlock
33,856 PointsHi Micole, a screenshot might help. Are you using free hosting? If so, there could be a few things going on. The blog you're seeing is possibly part of their advertisements. Did you install WordPress manually? Any extra information always helps.
P.S. Preview options don't always work with every host or theme. It's sometimes from low memory on the server.
Micole Noddle
5,797 PointsHi Dustin, No, I'm using paid, secure hosting. I've been talking to support and they said it's their default message and I have to see it every time, but I can't see any aspects of any theme. Is that what normally happens? I installed WordPress through my host. I'm worried about putting up a screenshot because it's showing info I'm not sure I should share with the whole forum. Any thoughts?
Oh, this happens with every theme. I have no preview.
And now my host is telling me that preview is a host provided option for a more expensive package that I'm not getting. Is that normal? Is there a way to get around this, like a preview plug in?
Micole Noddle
5,797 PointsMicole Noddle
5,797 PointsI checked with my host and apparently it's their default message. They said it will come up each time until I customize, but i can't see any part of the theme I've installed. Is this normal? It makes it really hard!