How to Import and Export WordPress Theme Customizer Settings: A Complete Guide

Have you ever spent hours tweaking your WordPress theme to get it just right, only to realize you need to repeat the entire process on another site? This redundant task can be frustrating, but there’s a straightforward solution to save and transfer your theme customizer settings between WordPress sites efficiently. Whether you’re moving from a staging environment to a live site or managing multiple websites, learning how to import and export customizer settings can save you time, maintain design consistency, and streamline your workflow.

In this detailed guide, we’ll walk you through the entire process of exporting and importing WordPress theme customizer settings, highlighting the essential tools, step-by-step methods, and tips for maintaining your site’s appearance across installations.

Why You Should Import and Export WordPress Theme Customizer Settings

The WordPress theme customizer is a powerful feature that lets you personalize many aspects of your website’s appearance. From adjusting color schemes and layout settings to defining header and background images, the customization options allow you to tailor your site beautifully.

However, when managing multiple websites or working between development and live environments, manually replicating these configurations can be time-consuming and error-prone. Importing and exporting customizer settings eliminates this repetitive work by enabling you to transfer your design adjustments quickly.

Some common reasons to move your customizer settings between sites include:

• Migrating from a local or staging site: After perfecting your design in a test environment, easily apply the same settings to your live site without redoing all changes.
• Sharing designs: If you developed a child theme or custom configuration that others may want to use, exporting the customizer settings makes distribution simpler.
• Theme troubleshooting: When fixing errors that require uninstalling or switching themes, keeping a backup of your settings allows easy restoration after resolution.

This approach only transfers the theme customizer options and doesn’t export content such as posts, pages, navigation menus, or widgets, which require separate handling.

How to Export WordPress Theme Customizer Settings

To export your current customization settings, you’ll need a reliable plugin designed for this job. The most popular and user-friendly option is the Customizer Export/Import plugin. Here’s how you use it:

Step 1: Install and Activate Customize Export/Import Plugin

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
• Search for “Customizer Export/Import”.
• Click Install Now and then Activate.

Make sure to install and activate this plugin on the site you want to export the settings from.

Step 2: Export Your Customizer Settings

• Go to Appearance > Customize on your WordPress admin menu.
• In the customizer sidebar, find and select the Export/Import option.
• Click the Export button. This action will generate a .dat file containing your theme’s customizer settings and prompt you to download it.

What Gets Exported?

The file will include most theme options saved in the WordPress database as theme mods or options. These commonly cover:

• Color schemes
• Layout and design choices
• Header and background image selections
• Typography settings

However, it’s important to note that the export does not include:

• Navigation menus
• Site title and tagline
• Widgets
• Any other content like posts or pages

How to Import WordPress Theme Customizer Settings

Once you have your exported settings file, applying those customizations on another WordPress site is just as easy.

Step 1: Prepare the Destination Site

Make sure the Customizer Export/Import plugin is installed and activated on the target site where you want to import the customizer settings.

Step 2: Import the Settings File

• Open the WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Customize.
• Find the Export/Import panel.
• Under the Import section, click Choose file and select the .dat file you exported earlier.
• Check the box for Download and import image files? if you want to bring over header images or other media connected with theme settings.
• Hit the Import button.

The customizer will then upload your theme’s configuration and apply it in the preview mode.

Step 3: Save Your Changes

After confirming the imported design looks correct, click the Save & Publish button at the top to make the new settings live on your website.

Important Considerations and Limitations

• The export/import process works best when the themes on both sites are the same or fully compatible with the customizer options.
• Images linked in theme settings will only transfer if you select the option to download and import them, but this doesn’t affect content media like gallery images or featured images.
• Since menus, widgets, site titles, and other content aren’t part of the customizer export, you will need to set those up independently or use additional plugins or WordPress tools for migrating that data.
• Always back up your WordPress sites before importing new theme settings in case you want to revert changes.

Bonus: Export and Import WordPress Navigation Menus

Customizer export/import doesn’t handle navigation menus, which you may also want to transfer. To move menus easily, use the WPS Menu Exporter plugin:

Export Menu

• Install and activate the WPS Menu Exporter plugin on the original site.
• Navigate to Tools > Export.
• Select the box labeled Navigation Menu Items and click Download Export File.
• This action downloads your menus as an .xml file.

Import Menu

• On the new site, go to Tools > Import.
• Install the WordPress importer if prompted.
• Upload the .xml file you exported.
• The menu items will then be imported into your new site.

This is a handy companion approach to transferring your site’s structure alongside the theme customizations.

Summary

Saving, exporting, and importing your WordPress theme customizer settings can dramatically simplify managing multiple websites or migrating customization from a development environment to a live server. By using the Customizer Export/Import plugin, you can quickly back up or transfer your design options like colors, layouts, and header images without handling complex database tasks.

Remember, this method only covers theme settings and excludes menus, widgets, and other content, which need separate handling. Combining this approach with additional plugins like WPS Menu Exporter can give you full control over migrating site appearance efficiently.

By following the steps outlined above, you can ensure your WordPress sites maintain consistent styling and reduce the tedious work of repetitive manual customizations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Does importing customizer settings overwrite my current theme design?
Yes. When you import a customizer settings file, it replaces the existing theme options. It’s a good idea to back up your site before performing an import if you want to preserve your current design.

Q2: Will this process migrate my navigation menus and widgets?
No. The customizer export/import only transfers theme options configured through the customizer. Menus, widgets, site title, and other content remain unchanged and require separate migration methods.

Q3: What if the themes on the source and destination sites are different?
Customizer settings files are specific to their themes. Importing into a different theme will either not work correctly or may cause unpredictable results. Always use the same or compatible themes when transferring customizer settings.

Q4: Can I import images linked in my customizer settings?
Yes, if you check the option to download and import image files during the import process, the plugin will attempt to bring over header images and other media assigned within the theme customizer settings.

With these techniques, you’ll master WordPress theme customization transfers and maintain beautiful, consistent websites across all your projects.