Save and verify the intended design changes first. Record the active theme, relevant version and any child-theme relationship. List dependencies such as custom fonts, block plugins and external assets that may not be self-contained in the exported theme package.

Keep a separate full recovery backup before replacing or deploying theme files. An export used for development should not become the only copy of important site data.

1. Open the Site Editor and locate the Export action in its tools or options menu.
2. Download the generated ZIP and give your retained copy a clear date and project identifier.
3. Inspect the archive on a local system without executing unknown code. Confirm it contains the expected theme structure and design files.
4. Share it through an appropriate project channel together with the dependency list and a description of the intended changes.
5. Have the developer test the package on a separate environment before any live deployment.

Normal page and post content, media uploads, plugin settings and customer records require their own export or migration process. Patterns can also have separate export workflows. Do not assume that installing the theme ZIP reproduces the entire live website.

Check for hardcoded production URLs or asset references in custom templates. Those references may still point to the original site after the theme is installed elsewhere, which can conceal a missing asset during testing.

Review representative pages, navigation, fonts and mobile layouts on the test installation. Confirm which changes are now stored in theme files and which database customisations still override them.

Before deploying back to production, agree on the source of truth and a rollback plan. Replacing a theme folder without reconciling saved Site Editor overrides can produce a different result from the developer's test site. Keep the original export and notes so the handoff remains reproducible.

• Understanding Site Editor styles versus theme file changes
• Preparing a WordPress site for an agency handoff
• Creating a manual WordPress files-and-database backup
• Changing global typography in a block theme

• WordPress: Site Editor
• WordPress: Site Editor Patterns
• WordPress theme structure