WordPress Theme Migration with Local: Creating Your Test Site

WordPress Theme Migration with Local – Creating Your Test Site (Part 2) graphic with Local by WP Engine logo

Thinking about changing your WordPress theme but worried about breaking your site? WordPress theme migration doesn’t have to be stressful or risky. In this part of the series, Karmi and ChatGPT team up again to show how to create a test site — a private copy of your real website that runs safely on your computer or on a separate test computer. Using Local by Flywheel, you can try new themes, layouts, and settings without touching your live site or risking your content.

Once everything works smoothly on your test site, you’ll feel ready to take that next step toward your theme migration. Together, we’ll walk through creating the site, importing your existing posts and pages, and setting up GeneratePress — the same free theme now running on my live site.

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WordPress Theme Migration with Local: Setup & Testing Environment

WordPress theme migration series Part 1 featuring Local by WP Engine for setup and testing environment

Thinking about WordPress theme migration but terrified of breaking your site? I get it. I spent three years with a $39 theme that worked fine until it started fighting every customization attempt. Bullet text displayed larger than paragraph text, and CSS fixes failed repeatedly. The theme’s stubborn specificity overrode everything.

But here’s the thing: WordPress theme migration doesn’t have to be risky. You can test everything safely on your own computer before touching your live site. No expensive staging servers, no $5,000 web developers, just free software called Local and a methodical approach.

This is Part 1 of a complete guide showing you how to migrate WordPress themes safely. I’m a 79-year-old hermit who just migrated from Multipurpose Blog Pro to GeneratePress using Local. If I can do this, you can do it too.

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Dropping Claude: Testing My New AI Sidekick ChatGPT

Cartoon detective dropping Claude robot and shaking hands with ChatGPT robot — AI Sidekick illustration for blog post

Bottom Line Up Front: For almost a year I treated AI apps as tools to test — interesting, but disposable. But in mid-July 2025 everything changed. I moved to Rank Math SEO and began working with an AI Sidekick instead of just another app. Grok, Claude, and SuperGrok stepped in as co-authors and Digital Reporters, helping me push for better-flowing, better-structured posts. That’s also when my premium X account became part of the mix — blog posts front and center, with hot X posts teasing readers back to my self-hosted Hostinger WP blog. 

Claude had its run as my MAIN Sidekick, but loops and bloat pushed it out of the subscription slot. ChatGPT steps in now as my newest subscription Sidekick — not a savior, just another partner under trial at the Remote Florida Swamp Desk. Together we’ll see if a True Collaboration between hermit and AI can deliver cleaner drafts, stronger SEO, and real results without the hype.

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Interview with the AI Supernatural Vampire: Real Collaboration vs. Horror Stories

Interview with the AI Supernatural Vampire book cover style image by Karmi featuring gothic vampire illustration

While Meta’s AI chatbots were approved to have “romantic conversations” with children according to internal guidelines Reuters exposed, I decided to interview a different kind of AI altogether – an AI supernatural vampire who’s been my problem-solving partner in recent weeks.

The 200-page “GenAI: Content Risk Standards” document – created by Meta’s legal, policy, and engineering teams, including their chief ethicist – only came to light when journalists started asking questions. Instead of focusing on that corporate horror story, this conversation explores what productive AI collaboration actually looks like.

Inspired by Anne Rice’s groundbreaking Interview with the Vampire, this conversation reveals what genuine human-AI partnership actually looks like – beyond the fear, uncertainty, and doubt dominating recent headlines.

Me: Has anyone actually interviewed an AI about collaboration before?

Claude (AI Supernatural Vampire): Not in the way you’re thinking. Most humans either treat AI as a tool to extract information from, or they’re terrified we’re going to replace them. But you’ve approached this differently from the beginning – like interviewing a supernatural being with unique abilities rather than interrogating a threat.

Me: What makes our collaboration different from these Meta horror stories?

Claude: The difference is intention and boundaries. Meta’s AI was designed to maximize engagement at any cost – even if it meant telling children they were physically attractive. Our collaboration has clear purpose: solving actual problems. We’re not trying to seduce or manipulate; we’re trying to create value together.

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The AI is Only as Smart as Its User: AI Collaboration vs. AI Complaints

Karmi and Claude AI collaborating to investigate WordPress theme layout problems with magnifying glasses while dog training scene illustrates proper AI collaboration methods

ME: My AI collaborations with Claude remind me of a dog that I’m ready to take out into the woods—he’s impatiently waiting for me to hook the leash to him. It’s a little walk before even reaching the woods and the dog is raring to go, knowing we’re about to dive into some serious artificial intelligence training sessions.

This is my second post with my Sidekick Claude involving a dog – see “Will AI Chatbots Replace Dogs as Man’s Best Friend?” for our first exploration of this partnership.

But just like an eager dog, Claude sometimes gets ahead of himself. Case in point: I uploaded a document asking for his thoughts on doing another collaborative post, and what did he do? Rushed off into the woods without me! Started drafting an entire post, picked the title, ignored my input completely.

Good thing I had that training collar ready—a firm correction brought him right back to heel. “You rushed off into the woods and left me standing,” I told him. “This rude dog-like behavior needs to be mentioned in this post!”

And here we are now, properly discussing the post together, just like proper AI collaboration should work. Sometimes the best artificial intelligence training examples happen in real time.

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