How to Import and Export Thrive Theme Builder Themes

In this article, you’ll learn how to export a Thrive Theme Builder theme and import it on another website. This is the recommended way to transfer a fully customized theme between sites.

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Exporting a Theme

Exporting a theme creates a ZIP archive containing everything needed to recreate the theme on another site—templates, layouts, typography, color palettes, styles, and images.

How to Export

1. In the Thrive Theme Builder dashboard, click Themes in the left sidebar.
   
   

   

2. Hover over the theme you want to export.
   
   

   

3. Click the Export button that appears on the theme card.
   
   

   

4. The theme is packaged into a ZIP file and downloaded to your computer.
   
   

   

What’s Included in the Export

The exported ZIP archive contains:

• Templates — All page, post, list, homepage, search, and error templates.
• Sections — Header, footer, and other reusable sections.
• Layouts — Page layout structures (full-width, sidebar, etc.).
• Typography — All typography sets and font configurations.
• Color palettes — Theme color definitions and master color settings.
• Global styles — Button, section, and content box styles.
• Images — All images referenced in templates and sections.

Note: Page and post content is not included in the export—only the design layer (templates, layouts, and styles).

Importing a Theme

Importing a theme adds it to your themes library without affecting your current active theme or live website.

How to Import

1. In the Thrive Theme Builder dashboard, click Themes in the left sidebar.
2. Click the + Add theme button in the top-right corner.
3. In the modal that appears, select Import From File.
4. Click Upload File and select the ZIP file exported from another site.
5. The theme is validated, processed, and added to your themes list.

What Happens During Import

• A new theme is created with a unique name (if a theme with the same name already exists, a number is appended).
• All templates, layouts, typography, colors, and images are recreated on the target site.
• The imported theme is added as inactive—it does not replace or affect your current active theme.
• Internal references (IDs, URLs) are automatically remapped to work on the new site.

After Importing

Once imported, you can:

• Activate the imported theme to make it your live theme.
• Customize it further before activating.
• Keep it inactive in your library for later use.

Requirements and Limitations

• Both sites must have Thrive Theme Builder installed and activated.
• The import process requires sufficient PHP memory—large themes with many images may need a higher memory limit.
• Exported themes are self-contained. They do not require the source site to remain active.
• No inheritance—imported themes are independent copies. Changes on one site do not sync to the other.

Related Resources

• Installing a Theme: Learn how to download themes from the cloud.
• Managing Your Themes: Learn how to rename, duplicate, and delete themes.
• Creating a Staging Site: Use a staging site to test themes before going live.