Aphelion is the successor to T.Joy, but it is built differently. T.Joy laid out pages with the SiteOrigin page builder and kept galleries in its own Portfolio post type. Aphelion uses the WordPress block editor for both, with the core Gallery block for images. This page explains what carries over, what does not, and the order that avoids losing anything.
What stays and what changes
Your posts, pages, media library, menus, users and comments stay in the database and work in Aphelion right away.
Two things depend on T.Joy and stop working when it is deactivated:
- Portfolio items. The Portfolio post type is registered by the T.Joy theme. When the theme is deactivated the items disappear from wp-admin and their addresses return “not found”. They are not deleted. Reactivating T.Joy brings them back, and the steps below move them into Aphelion for good.
- SiteOrigin layouts. Pages built with the page builder keep their content, but the layout has to be rebuilt with blocks.
Before you switch
Do this while T.Joy is still active.
- Make a test copy of the site. Use a migration plugin such as WP Migrate or All-in-One WP Migration to clone the live site, plugins included, to a staging address. Aphelion’s license can be activated on test, staging and dev subdomains without using your site slot.
- Convert portfolio items to pages. Install the free Post Type Switcher plugin from wordpress.org. Open each portfolio item, change its post type to Page in the sidebar, and update. The images stay attached in the Media Library. Do this for every item you want to keep.
- Note the pages built with SiteOrigin. Pages, All Pages shows which ones use the page builder. Keep the list; you will rebuild those.
- Keep the plugins installed. Do not uninstall SiteOrigin or the T.Joy plugins yet. You will need the old pages as a reference while rebuilding.
Switching on the test site
- Install and activate Aphelion, then activate your license under Appearance > Theme License.
- Open one of the converted portfolio pages. Add a Gallery block and pick the images from the Media Library. The photos are already there; nothing needs re-uploading. Save, and repeat for the other galleries.
- For each SiteOrigin page, open the old version in one browser tab and build the new one in a second tab with blocks. Aphelion’s patterns cover the common layouts.
- Rebuild the menu under Appearance, Editor, Navigation if any item pointed to a portfolio address.
- When every page looks right, deactivate SiteOrigin and the T.Joy plugins on the test site and click through the site once more.
Going live
Either repeat the same steps on the live site, or move the finished test site over the live one with the migration plugin you used for the copy. Deactivate and delete the old plugins last, after everything is rebuilt.
If a gallery page still looks wrong after the switch, open a ticket with the page address and I will tell you the fastest way to rebuild it.