Migration playbooks
One routing workflow. Different migration pressures.
ThemeRouter adapts to the part of your project carrying the most risk: client approvals, storefront revenue, enterprise scale, or a gradual move to block themes.
Agencies
Turn client approval into a controlled release workflow.
Use a private preview for the ready route, enable its assignment after approval, and keep every unrelated page on the active theme.
- Review redesigns against current content
- Reduce launch-day coordination
- Pause only the affected assignment
Client approval route
/case-studies/*Enterprise Theme
Preview ready
Storefront rollout
Products
Categories
Cart
Current
Checkout
Current
WooCommerce
Redesign product discovery before transaction routes.
Review product and category templates first. Keep unmatched cart and checkout requests on the active theme until those workflows are ready.
- Phase storefront routes by business risk
- Keep transaction routes on the active theme
- Use existing commerce analytics before expansion
Enterprise
Break a large redesign into measurable releases.
Move content families in a deliberate order, preserving the stable experience for sections that are not ready.
- Contain risk to one content area
- Validate SEO and performance incrementally
- Coordinate stakeholder releases by route
Enterprise migration plan
Case studiesEnterprise Theme
Enabled
ResourcesResource Theme
Draft
Corporate pagesActive Theme
Fallback
Large content sites
Move complex content models without disrupting discovery.
Migrate editorial sections, resource libraries, and directories by content family while stable routes keep using the current theme.
- Validate singles, archives, and taxonomy paths together
- Protect organic traffic and editorial workflows
- Expand by dependency, not page count
Content migration map
Editorial guidesContent Theme
Enabled
Resource libraryContent Theme
Draft
DirectoriesActive Theme
Fallback
Legacy pagesActive Theme
Fallback
Classic to block theme
Classic themeStable production
Block themeSelected routes
Block themes
Adopt Site Editing without replacing every template at once.
Introduce a block theme on contained routes while the classic theme remains available for the rest of the site.
- Start with a low-risk template family
- Compare live behavior with the classic theme
- Expand Site Editing at a sustainable pace
Shared foundation
Every playbook uses the same controlled sequence.
1
Keep the active theme
The active theme handles unmatched requests while the new experience is prepared.
2
Create one draft route
Choose the smallest ready content area and assign its installed theme.
3
Preview privately
Authorized users review current content and the team’s required quality checks.
4
Enable, pause, or expand
Enable the ready route, pause it when needed, or add the next route after validation.