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RankGrepDocumentation

Uploading a theme zip

Replacing a theme through the WordPress admin or cPanel is the safest deploy there is, provided the zip still carries the RankGrep wiring.

Updated 17 Sept 20262 min read

On this page
  1. What a theme upload changes
  2. What the zip has to keep
  3. Checking a zip before uploading it
  4. After uploading
  5. Keeping your local copy in step

If your deploy is "zip the theme folder and upload it", you are in the safest position of all. A zip can only carry files, and RankGrep's fixes are not in files.

What a theme upload changes

Uploading a theme through Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, or extracting it into wp-content/themes/ from cPanel or SFTP, replaces one folder: the theme's. It does not touch:

  • the database, where every RankGrep fix lives
  • the plugins folder, where the RankGrep Connector lives
  • the uploads folder

So every SEO title, meta description, heading, alt text and link repair survives, whichever way the zip goes up.

What the zip has to keep

The values are safe in the database regardless. Whether they show depends on the theme printing them, which is what theme wiring does. A zip built from the wired theme folder keeps everything working.

Checking a zip before uploading it

Open functions.php inside the zip and look for the two lines that mark a wired theme:

php
add_theme_support( 'rankgrep-headings' );
php
function_exists( 'rankgrep_h1' )

If both are there, the wiring is in the zip.

After uploading

Confirm the site still reports heading support:

bash
curl -s https://your-site.com/wp-json/rankgrep/v1/status

The answer should include "supports_headings":true. If it says false, the uploaded theme is missing the wiring.

Keeping your local copy in step

A zip workflow has no database pull, so your local site shows the theme's fallback text where the live site shows RankGrep's values. That is harmless for theme work. If you want a local copy that matches live, export the live database with a backup or migration plugin and import it locally, in that direction only.