Migrating to Site Builder from a Legacy Theme

Transition from one of our legacy site themes to our new Site Builder themes with our easy to use migration tool! This article only applies if you created your account before April 2018.

You have until April 5, 2021 to migrate your theme to Site Builder. After the deadline, we will automatically migrate your theme to Site Builder and publish your new theme.

What is Site Builder?

Site Builder is a website page creation and customization tool. It lets you build a beautiful, customized website including homepage, product pages, and additional pages containing any content you’d like. As a course creator, you can create an on-brand site (including custom pages) with ease, and without coding.

Every Site Builder theme includes beautiful and easy to use section types right out of the box, specifically created by designers for you to create beautiful and high converting pages.

Site Builder only applies to your website pages. Your course content and the Course Player is not impacted when publishing a Site Builder theme. Your students will see a refreshed look, but still sign in and access their courses content in the same way!

Learn more about Site Builder and check out theme samples here.

Site Builder is available on all Thinkific plans. You do not need to upgrade your account to migrate to Site Builder.

How Migrating to Site Builder Works

We know that migrating to a new site theme can be overwhelming, so we have created a migration tool to make your transition as seamless and easy as possible.

Before getting started, let's run through exactly what our migration tool will do when you start the process and what to expect when using Site Builder going forward!

Accessing Site Builder

Unlike your current theme, where pages are accessed from your course settings, Site Builder will be available from the sidebar in your Admin Dashboard. Once you publish your new Site Builder theme, you can navigate here to customize all pages of your site!

The following areas are now all managed from within Site Builder:

Branding: This includes everything from your site logo and favicon to colors and typography. Your Landing page banner can now be accessed from your home page in Site Builder.
Course and bundle landing pages: All pages on your site are now accessed from Site Builder giving you a centralized location to customize your site!
Custom links: Your site header and footer links as well as colors and logo.
Custom pages: You can create and customize custom pages directly in Site Builder.
Home page: You can now fully customize your site home page! Like your previous theme, we'll include a banner and courses by default, but you can jump into Site Builder to add additional sections and customizations.

Site Sections

In your current theme, you have several section types available for your landing pages like your Banner and Course Curriculum. With Site Builder, we have expanded this with what we call Site Builder Sections. Many sections function quite similarly, but have an updated look!

When migrating your theme, the following sections in your Pre-Site Builder theme will be mapped to specific Site Builder Sections.

Pre-Site Builder Section (Course and Bundle Landing Page)	Site Builder Section (Course and Bundle Landing Page)
Banner	Banner (course/bundle)
Description	Text & media section
Instructor	Instructor(s)
Curriculum	Curriculum [smart section]
Reviews	Social proof: reviews
Demo video	Video or Banner (course)
Upsells	Upsells or Additional products
Additional prices	Pricing options
Bonus	Bonus Material
Call to action	Call to action
Countdown	Countdown timer
Featured in	Social proof: logos
Pricing	All pricing options [smart section]
Skills	Checklist
Testimonials	Social proof: testimonials

Site Pages

All of your site pages from your Pre-Site Builder theme will be migrated to your new theme, so you don't need to worry about recreating any pages!

Course Content

This migration is for your site theme only. Your courses and course content are not affected. You will still edit and access your courses from your Admin Dashboard. Your students will also login and access their courses exactly the same. They will just see an updated look to your site!

How to Migrate to Site Builder

Now that you have an overview of what to expect during migration, you can get started! We recommend starting the migration process right away so that you have lots of time to explore Site Builder!

When you use our migration tool, a Site Builder theme will be installed on your site, but it will not be published. The new Site Builder theme will remain inactive until you are 100% ready to make it live!

How to Migrate Your Theme

Login to your Thinkific site as the Site Owner
You'll see a message on your dashboard indicating It’s time to update to a new website theme. If you don't see this page, click the Thinkific logo on the top left to go to your dashboard. The URL will be yoursite.thinkific.com/manage.
Click Learn More
You'll be taken through 3 steps showing what your new theme will look like!
Step 1 of 3: Here you'll see a quick video providing a brief overview of what your migration will look like. Click Preview your new site to continue.
Step 2 of 3: This will show you an example of what your new site could look like! Don't worry, this is just an example site with example images; all of your custom images and copy will applied during the migration. Click Continue to preparation to continue.
Step 3 of 3: Here you'll see an overview of everything that will be mapped to your new Site Builder theme. You may see a message that some sections will not be migrated over. We'll show you how customize these later! Click Start migration.
Your migration should be very quick and you'll see a green notification when you can start exploring your Site Builder theme!

How to Navigate to Your New Theme

Once the migration is complete, you'll see a green notification that will take you to your Theme Library. You can visit this page anytime to check out your new theme:

Go to Design Your Site
Click Theme Library
Scroll down to see your installed Site Builder theme
Hover your mouse over your new theme and click Build
From here, you can work on your Site Builder theme to add any additional customizations before publishing it!

Important Considerations Before Publishing Your Site Builder Theme

Some Legacy themes have sections and customizations that will not be automatically migrated to your new Site Builder theme due to functionality changes.

Check out our detailed instructions on specific customizations to consider here.

How to Publish Your Site Builder Theme

Once you have reviewed the Important Considerations above and are happy with how your site looks in Site Builder, you are ready to publish your new theme!

Don't worry if you notice any issues after publishing that require some time to fix. You have until April 5, 2021 to republish your Legacy theme temporarily if you need to access it.

Go to Design Your Site
Click Theme Library
Scroll down to see your installed Site Builder theme
Hover your mouse over your new theme and click Publish

Congrats! Your Site Builder theme is now live. We recommend visiting your site in an Incognito or Private window to test it out.

How to Edit Your Site Builder Theme Going Forward

Once your Site Builder theme is published, it is easy to access for any ongoing updates!

Go to Design Your Site
Select Site Builder
And that's it!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to migrate?

You have until April 5, 2021 to migrate your theme to Site Builder.

Do I need to upgrade my plan to use Site Builder?

Site Builder is available on all Thinkific plans. You do not need to change plans to use this feature!

What part of my site does this impact?

The migration tool will automatically move over your course and bundle landing pages, home page, custom pages, and any branding you’ve configured in your legacy theme. Your course content is not affected as part of this migration.

What happens after the migration period?

If you’ve already migrated your theme to Site Builder and published your new theme prior to the deadline, you won’t notice any changes. After the deadline, we will automatically migrate your theme to Site Builder if you haven’t already and publish your Site Builder theme. Your old theme will be an inactive theme in your theme library and you can download your theme files at any time if you’d like them for your records. You will not be able to view or publish your old theme.

How does this impact my students?

Using the migration tool to install your new Site Builder theme doesn’t impact your students in any way, as all of the changes happen in the background until you’re ready to publish your new theme. Once you publish your theme, your students may notice your slightly refreshed look but they’ll still access your course content in the same way they always have through their student dashboard.

I don’t like my Site Builder theme and I want to move back to my old theme.

After the April 5, 2021 deadline, you won’t be able to revert back to your old theme. To provide some context, we first launched Site Builder -- our current drag and drop website editor -- in April 2018. The complexity of managing older versions of the website builder (and the related themes) has become an obstacle to delivering the best possible product. By simplifying our offering and focusing on our newer themes, we can invest more in improving the experience of all users: developing more features, faster.

Do I have to move to a Site Builder theme?

Yes, however, we are giving you plenty of time to move your site theme, preview your site, and decide when you want to go live with it; the deadline to migrate is April 5, 2021.

How do I know if I have customized my theme? What theme customizations do I have?

If you have a customized legacy theme, you will see a message in the migration steps letting you know. To help you move those to your new Site Builder theme, make sure to check out:

Can I use Vogue or Vision instead of Empire?

By default, our migration tool will move your site to the Empire theme, our most popular Site Builder theme. We are also currently working on a tool to allow you to easily transfer your content to a new theme if you decide you prefer Vogue or Vision.

In the meantime, you’re free to use the migration tool to map all your existing content to Empire so you can explore Site Builder and make any landing page content edits to your theme. Once the theme transfer functionality is released, you can then map your content to the theme of your choice.

If you'd like to be notified when the theme transfer tool is available, please let us know!

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