Why Does Your WordPress Site Look Different After Installation?
Own a WordPress website?
Good to hear.
As WordPress is among the most popular CMS to date (2025). It eliminates the need for coding, enabling individuals with basic technical skills to manage websites. All just by simply dragging and dropping things.
However, a common issue reported by WordPress website administrators is that their site appears different after installation. The problem arises primarily at the front end, not at the backend.
There are a few reasons behind the issue. In this blog post, we’ll explore some key reasons that can impact your website’s appearance.
4 Reasons Your WordPress Website Looks Different
Let’s begin with a popular saying:
“Every glitch has a story behind it.”
The same is for WordPress. Behind every issue, there can be a different reason that is the culprit behind disturbing your website. Here are four common problems that can affect your WordPress website’s appearance after installation, along with their reasons.
1. You’re Viewing the Default Theme Instead of the One You Installed
On WordPress, people mostly use the built-in theme designs. They browse the WordPress theme repository and install the one that best suits their website. After installation and activation, users see a blank webpage in their browser, similar to WordPress’s default view.
Why does this happen?
Well, this promptly happened due to a common mistake. People often overlook importing demo content when installing themes. Every theme in the WordPress repository comes with multiple built-in demo styles. To keep your site looking the same as the preview when choosing a theme, you need to import both the demo style and content.
If your site still looks older after installing the new theme, navigate to your theme settings and import the demo content. The procedure may vary slightly depending on the theme you choose, so it’s best to read the theme installation guidelines before taking any action.
2. DNS Records Are Pointing to an Old or Different Server
We often hear a common complaint from many new WordPress users. The problem arises when they work on their site by logging into the admin panel, as everything appears fine. However, when they open the same site’s URL in another window, nothing appears but a blank page.
Well, the culprit behind this issue is usually the wrong DNS setup. This usually happens when a WordPress site is hosted on the local server or is set for staging. Because many WordPress developers make their site live only after testing it thoroughly on the local server. To achieve this, they modify the DNS record of the website, specifically the CNAME and A records, to redirect their domain from the live server to the local server.
So, if you ever face such an issue, firstly, check the DNS records for your domain. In fact, perform a DNS lookup using an online tool. When you run the domain through a DNS lookup tool, it will show you all the records in the DNS setup of your domain.
By reviewing all the record values, you can determine whether your site is pointing to a local or live server. If the site is hosted on a local server, log in to your domain panel immediately and set the values for the live server. This way, your website will appear exactly as you designed it.
3. Cached Version of Your Site Is Still Showing
When you visit a website, your browser and hosting service often save copies of web pages. This process is called caching. It helps your website load faster because the browser doesn’t have to reload everything from scratch each time you visit.
However, caching can also confuse immediately after installing WordPress or making design changes. Instead of showing your updated layout, your browser might still display an older version of your website stored in its memory.
This makes it appear as though your changes were unsuccessful, even though everything is fine on the server. To fix this, you need to clear all types of cache:
- Browser cache
- Hosting cache
- Plugin cache
Regarding the hosting cache, it is good to flush it from the hosting panel. For the rest, you can use any of the popular WordPress caching plugins, such as WP Fastest Cache.
Just install this plugin and activate it. Once activated, you will see a “Clear Cache” option inside the menu bar. Just click on it, and all the cache of your website will be cleared automatically.
Now open your website in a new tab. Hopefully, you will see the updated design of your website.
4. Missing or Conflicting Plugins
As we mentioned earlier, many prefer WordPress only because of the built-in theme designs. However, to make full use of a theme’s functionalities, some require certain plugins to be installed as well. Without these plugins, the theme will have compatibility issues with your website, and the design will also break.
As an example, if you are using a Kadence theme and want access to the full features and functionality, or edit the templated design, you have to install the Kadence blocks plugin as well.
So, while installing any new theme on your WordPress website, do read the requirements carefully and install the required plugins along with it.
Additionally, sometimes your website design breaks because of the conflict between two or more plugins. Or if you are using an outdated, cracked version of a plugin.
As an example:
On WordPress, if you install WPRocket or Litespeed Cache altogether, you will see a conflict issue, and your site will not perform properly. This is because both are caching plugins and are meant to perform the same functionality. So there comes the conflict of interest.
But this doesn’t mean that you cannot install more than one plugin that performs the same functionality. For example, you cannot install LiteSpeed cache with WPRocket but you can install Perfmatters with WPRocket because both are compatible.
A good thing is that whenever a conflict between two plugins arises, WordPress automatically notifies you and suggests that you take action. All you need to do is not ignore those notifications and take immediate action.
Bottom Line
The above are the four common reasons that can make your WordPress site look different after installation. Try fixing them in case your site’s appearance is disturbed on the live URL. The issues are quite small and easy to resolve. All you need is to pay attention and implement the fixes we described above. Hopefully, they will help you in maintaining your site’s aesthetics well.
