Format partly destroyed after failed update theme x (style sheet missing)

Hi there,

Today I updated my wordpress version, all of my plugins and the ‘theme x’. While updating theme x, I got the message ‘update failed; stylesheet broken’ and ‘a default theme was set’. As a consequence, my site which is normally running perfectly has lost all of its layout feautures and customizations.

Reinstalling theme x only brought back a part of the layout feautures and customizations.

I’ve tried a lot (e.g. based on Troubleshooting - Site Frontend Appears Broken):

  • I’ve tried deactivating all plugins;
  • I’ve been refreshing my browse cash;

But nothing helps. And - my mistake - I don’t have a recent back-up (that is something else that went wrong apparently) and my host provider doesn’t make back-ups.

Issues:

  • on the front end the content seems fine, but the layout is partly broken: most of the sectors/columns have the original layout with fonts and images, but in the ‘x theme settings’ it’s all standard (I can’t see my fonts, colours, etc.);
  • the menu is ok but the navigation bar, header and footer are set back to standard (before the navigation bar was dynamic/hidden, in my font and colours and the footer had some text but this disappeared etc.);
  • whatever I try, I can’t set the pages back to full width covering the full width of a page on desktop/mobile/ipad (although I’ve designed and customized the pages for the three different types);
  • Every page starts with the name of the page on top and I can’t remove this;

I’ve searched through the topics and documentation but couldn’t find a solution - you may know that my IT-skills are very limited - and it’s not helping that I can’t see my original preferences in the ‘x theme options’. So please some assistance for this amateur ;-).

This is the link to my website: https://magikhetzien.nl

Thank you!

Kind regards,

Peter

Hello Peter,

Thanks for writing in!

  • The Divi builder is overriding the fonts, colours, and other theme option settings in your homepage.
  • Yes the navbar is set to default. Did you assigned a custom header and footers? Would you mind providing us access to the site so that we can check your settings?
  • The page is using the default page template. You will be using the layout that you have set in X > Theme Options > Layout and Design. If you want to have a truly fullwidth page, please edit the page and change the page template to Blank - No Container | Heade, Footer. For more details, please check this out: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/features-page-templates/50/1
  • You can always edit the page and disable the page title which you can find it in the Page Settings: https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/meta-options-pages/144/1

Hope this helps.

Hi RueNel,

Thanks for your quick reply! Indeed, I did assign a custom header and footers but I’ve no idea where to find them (or how to bring them back). And I’ve tried to change the page template and disable page title - like mentioned in the blogs - but for one or another reason I can’t even find the right setting pages. I don’t understand… perhaps there is something wrong in the settings where I’m not aware of.

For you to know: Yesterday - in a search for a solution - I’ve also installed the pro theme and activated it, but I’m not sure whether I used the pro theme before or not. And I can’t remember which stack I’ve used (integrity or icon).

So please feel free to check my settings, I’ll send the login to you in a secure note

Many thanks!

Hello Peter,

By custom header and footer, do you mean you have previously created some header and footer using the Header and Footer builder that come with Pro? I checked your site and there are no custom header and footer present in the pro builders. You have mentioned that you have just installed and activated Pro yesterday so I doubt that you have created a custom header and footer.

Perhaps you mean you have used X and customized the header? It would be difficult for us to trace the previous state of your website because that is something we have no knowledge about.

If it was X that was enabled on the site previously, kindly have X enabled then check and make sure that Cornerstone is also updated to the latest version because it causes an incompatibility issue when X and Cornerstone are not both updated to the latest version.

You can find the latest supported version of X and its bundled plugins here:

Let us know how it goes.

Hi Jade,

Thanks. I understand that’s difficult for you to trace the previous state, I’m having troubles tracing it myself ;-). And I think you’re right about having used x for customizing the header.

I’ve just enabled x (and disabled pro) and checked cornerstone for updates, I have the latest supported versions. But I’m still having the same issues. When I use the divi builder (I’ve built/edited pages via the divi builder and not via cornerstone) I can’t see the fonts, colours, etc I’ve used to built the website. And I’ve tried and tried but can’t change the page template and disable page title - like mentioned in the blogs… confusing…

Hello Peter,

Please go to Theme Options. Make sure all settings are setup as intended and then click save.

You might need to set it up again. Somehow settings got corrupted. Please go to Theme Options > Header | Footer and set the desired settings.

You may adjust page template on the following as showed on screenshot. Try to use BLANK NO CONTAINER if you want it fullwidth > edge to edge of the browser

It happens because as stated previously, you settings got corrupted on the process and your page templates are set to default (STANDARD TEMPLATE). If you will set the correct template, those titles will be gone. The title are part of that default template.

Hope this helps.

Hi Lely, ok now I could find the settings for the page title and the ‘no container/header, footer’ template, thanks! Every page is now full width again (I only have to check some text boxes on pages for the mobile version because they are too wide on my iphone x).

I’ll try to remake my header and footer, it’s not that much work. The only thing that’s worrying me is the loading time of the website - especially the home page. It’s slower than before, when loading the homepage I can see for 1 second a white page AND a - for the desktop hidden - image before showing the page correctly. What’s wrong?

Hello Peter,

I’ve analyzed your page and I got the data here:

Your page is 2.5MB in filesize which consists of JS, CSS, images. etc. The CSS is 37% and the JS script is 30% of the total file size. That is because, there are two seperate page builders (Cornerstone and Divi Builder) loading its respective resources. This is what is making it a little bit slower to load. Please temporarily deactivate Cornerstone plugin and the Divi Builder one at a time and compare the loading speed. You will see a good difference for sure.

Hope this helps.

Hi RueNel, ok I was not aware of this possible having a negative impact on speed. I’ve done what you’ve said and when I deactivate cornerstone it’s still the same and when I deactivate the divi builder I only see codes on the website

What does that mean? I used the divi builder for making the website, but strange that it’s still slow when deactivating cornerstone…

Hi Peter,

That means cornerstone isn’t causing the slowdown, and since that content is built from Divi builder, disabling it will just show that shortcodes in your screenshot.

But is it faster now when Divi Builder is inactive? The performance could be related to how it handles those codes which, unfortunately, we can’t provide a further solution. Perhaps you could contact the Divi builder author and see if there is optimization applicable?

Thanks!

Hi Rad,

Thanks for your feedback. I’ve contacted the divi builder author but they think it’s a theme error.

For you to know:

  • For theme x I need cornerstone but not when I use the theme of my pro account; but when I use my pro account thema that doesn’t make any difference, all the issues remain (thus also when deactivating cornerstone);

  • After deactivating the divi builder, the homepage is loading quicker on desktop. And it seems to be something on the homepage because the loading time of the other pages (than the homepage) is better;

=> so perhaps there’s something wrong with the homepage template?

For your information; about the homepage and how it’s built: sector 1 of the homepage contains two columns with on the left some text and on the right a picture of a very good looking guy ;-0. On the desktop you see both columns, on mobile devices you only see the left column and the right column is blocked (because of too wide). That’s why I’ve created sector 2 (only visible for mobile devices): the same image as the right column of sector one and only visible for mobile devices

I’ve made the following printscreens for you to see what I mean:

  1. What you see while the homepage is loading on the desktop (the white stroke and the for the desktop hidden picture)
  2. The homepage in visual builder for desktop: you see the first sector (left text and right picture) above and then the second sector set up as hidden image for desktop (this is the same picture as used in the first sector)
  3. The homepage in visual builder for mobile: you see the first sector (only the text left; picture right is hidden) and then the picture of sector 2 [visible for mobile and this is what you see when loading the homepage)

So the question is: why is the homepage loading slowly and while loading showing the hidden image of sector 2 for the desktop for a moment before loading sector 1 (text + image)?

Hi Peter,

Thank you for clarification.

The builder on Pro theme is already part of the theme. It is the same builder but it is already integrated on the theme.

You can see the image because the stylesheet or the entire code is not yet loaded. Those content are hidden using CSS. The CSS is not yet loaded.

Please check our article regarding performance. Try to implement some caching and check other suggestion for faster loading of the page.

Hope this helps.

Hi Lely,

I’ve read the article regarding performance, installed the W3 total cache plugin and followed the guidelines. And when I’ve refreshed my website page this was the result:

Isn’t really helping… but what I don’t understand is why suddenly - after a theme x update - the css codes/stylesheet don’t load immediately any longer?

Hi Peter,

We’re sorry you’re still having this issue. Two of us checked and we cannot duplicate the issue you have on your screenshot. What we are seeing is what you describe here:

So the question is: why is the homepage loading slowly and while loading showing the hidden image of sector 2 for the desktop for a moment before loading sector 1 (text + image)?

I cannot confirm how CSS reloads for DIVI builder before.
How CSS loads is the same even before on X theme and the builder. Your homepage is built using divi builder, most of the resources from that page is loaded and process by divi builder.

If you will check the source code, inline CSS of that page, created by divi is at the end of the page. See this: https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cqQQIntAyv. That means, the images you have discuss above will show first when reloads, until CSS is process, which is the end of the page. That is the reason, it happens. We don’t have control over it, because it is part of the divi.

Also, checking the content, it seems that the image is converted to background

.et-db #et-boc .et_pb_column_1 {
    background-image: url(http://magikhetzien.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Peter-Creemers-010-e1533823077484.jpg);
    z-index: 9;
    position: relative;
}

which is only possible with javascript, and javascript are loaded and executed very late than content and CSS

If you will again check the source code, for X theme, our CSS generate by the theme, which is inside this tag <style id="x-generated-css"> is loaded at the start of the page before content .

Please note, I don’t intend to be right or anything, I just explaining the structure of the homepage as I see it and how it works. That’s the reason why I also recommend to improve page performance. This usually helps the loading of the page. But on this case, I didn’t see right away that divi CSS is loaded last. Now, can you check in with the divi how this can be altered, by adding those inline CSS before the content is loaded. On that part, it is outside of our control. Thank you for understanding.

Thanks Lely, I understand that I have to fix number of things to make the website fast, that’s what the divi builder author is also pointing out. But besides it’s a lot of work to do and I’m far from being an expert, it’s still strange that before a theme x/divi builder update I’ve had a perfect working and fast loading website.

So in the end this it all comes down to me trying to fix it without any website building knowledge while that was the reason I’ve bought a well designed theme (x) and the visual divi builder in the first place…

Hey Peter,

We understand that it’s frustrating especially if you don’t understand the technical stuff but please understand that our theme is not the only system you’re using. It would be unfair to blame our theme when other systems are slowing down or breaking your site.

Support is also tricky for this case because third-party plugins are involved and we do not have support for them. This is why if you’re not technical, you need to hire a WordPress speed specialist. Our theme is already optimized but that’s just a part of WordPress. If other systems are not optimized, it will slow down your site.

Regarding your site slowing down after update, it naturally will be because you’ll be redownloading the new and/or updated resources. That is not the fault of WordPress including themes and plugins.

Thank you for understanding.

Hi Christian, I do understand, it’s just frustrating. Thanks for all the support!

You’re welcome, Peter.

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.