Websites at Texas A&M
Texas A&M University Division of Marketing &
Communications
Texas A&M University
Websites at Texas A&M

How to Install the Aggie UX WordPress theme

Installation Instructions for First Time Installs

  1. Install Advanced Custom Fields Pro
    1. Email web@tamu.edu to request the download link and license key.
    2. The free ACF version will not work.
  2. Install the Aggie UX theme
    1. Install and activate aux-wordpress.zip (parent theme).
    2. Install and activate aux-wordpress-child.zip (child theme).
  3. Configure your site
    1. Verify that Gutenberg is enabled (required)
    2. Disable third-party page builders like Divi, Elementor, or WPBakery. These are incompatible with Aggie UX and do not meet accessibility standards.
  4. Managing Updates
    1. Turn off automatic theme updates.
    2. Updates will appear in WordPress when new versions are available, install them after testing on your development site.

 

How to Update from an Older Theme Version

Remember, you should always test a theme update on a local or development site before applying it to your live (production) site.

How to test the update

On a local or development site that is already running the AUX WordPress parent theme:

  1. Log in to WordPress and visit the Appearance > Themes page.
  2. Click on the “New version available. Update now” link in the message above the AUX-WordPress theme.
  3. If you are on WPEngine, clear the site cache.
  4. Test your local/development site after the update. Visit important pages, add and modify content and make sure everything looks and works as expected.

How to update your live (production) website

After testing the update:

  1. Schedule a time to update your live website. Notify WordPress editors and appropriate stakeholders.
    Items to communicate:

    1. When the update will happen.
    2. How it may impact them (improvements to Gravity Forms experience and display)
    3. The update should not result in an outage; however, editors should save their work and refrain from making changes while the site is being updated.
  2. At the time you scheduled for the update, first make a backup checkpoint of your WordPress files and database.
  3. After the backup has completed, install the theme update in WordPress. As with your local/development site, you will find the update option in the Appearance > Themes page in WordPress. Update, clear the site cache and test!