Back To The Theme
A tool to observe how a page loads in different themes simultaneously. Useful for debugging plugins or Gutenberg blocks.
Consider an alternative
Back To The Theme shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 7 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.1 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Back To The Theme stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| debug | >100 |
| development | >100 |
| testing | >100 |
| themes | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Back To The Theme
From the official readme · v1.2.0Description
A tool to observe how a page loads in different themes simultaneously.
Useful for debugging plugins or Gutenberg blocks.
How to Use:
- Install several themes you’d like to check out.
- Create a new page.
- Navigate to Tools → Back To The Theme
- Choose if you want to demo editor- or view side.
- Select the themes you’d like to check out.
- Choose the page you just created. This page will be previewed with all the themes you’ve selected.
- Click Do it!.
- Scroll to see the page rendered with all the themes you selected.
You’ll see your page load with different themes in a bunch of iframes for handy preview and debugging.
A nice list of popular themes to test:
`
wp theme install \
astra \
colormag \
customizr \
generatepress \
hestia \
hueman \
oceanwp \
shapely \
storefront \
sydney \
twentyeleven \
twentyfifteen \
twentyfourteen \
twentynineteen \
twentyseventeen \
twentysixteen \
twentyten \
twentythirteen \
twentytwelve \
vantage
`
See docs for wp theme install.
Installation
- Upload the plugin files to the
/wp-content/plugins/plugin-namedirectory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
- You can find the plugin under “Tools” menu.
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Back To The Theme alternatives
All debug plugins →
FAQ
Back To The Theme: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 18, 2026
Is Back To The Theme free?
Yes. Back To The Theme is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Back To The Theme safe to use in 2026?
Back To The Theme shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Back To The Theme?
Back To The Theme is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,968 times since it launched in February 2019. It was downloaded 42 times in the last 30 days.
Does Back To The Theme work with WordPress 7.1?
Back To The Theme is officially tested up to WordPress 5.1.27, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Back To The Theme need?
Back To The Theme requires PHP 5.6.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Back To The Theme last updated?
The latest version, 1.2.0, was released on March 1, 2019 (8 years ago).
Who makes Back To The Theme?
Back To The Theme is developed and maintained by Mikael Korpela.
What are the best alternatives to Back To The Theme?
The most popular alternatives to Back To The Theme are WP Crontrol (300K+ installs), Query Monitor (200K+ installs) and Debug Bar (20K+ installs).
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