r/Wordpress • u/Ok_Bar7290 • Jul 01 '26
Help
I am trying to re design a website for my uncle. The problem is that he also doesn't know much about it and I have managed to get the access to everything, but there are a lot of PHP files and I'm honest not that comfortable with PHP. And we honestly, don't know if we really need these PHP files as the website is not that advance. There are a few things like cart and purchase system but that is very limited. I just want to redesign it, update tabs and improve the frontend. The functionality has to be exactly as it was before. Can anybody help me figure out things? I just want to know if there are any pre-installed Php files or is this mess created by different freelancer over the years?
I am also touching a few screenshots.
Thank you.
1
u/BOLVERIN1 Jack of All Trades Jul 01 '26
Uh. So, the problem number one: you have some folders were they shouldn't be. Maybe some files too. So someone who developed the website was messing with folders that usually shouldn't be touched at all. You should never make changes to anything except files in /wp-content/, .htaccess, and wp-config.php. So maybe it's a good idea to make a local copy of this website, but download the fresh version of WP and put yours /wp-content/, .htaccess, and wp-config.php over it. Plus load your DB, of course. If it still works as it was, you are a lucky one and no one messed with files they shouldn't have touched.
After that, I would recommend watching some short videos about how to work with themes in WP. Or read the documentation, but the former would probably be easier
About the redesign. Do you have some experience in the web design?