We’ve designed a custom WordPress theme available exclusively to the University of Vermont faculty, students and staff.
Our new Catamount theme leans into native WordPress so you can take advantage of all that WordPress has to offer natively– content blocks, UVM-branded style libraries, and design components so you can quickly put together a professional, on-brand, website.
A lot has changed since 2019, when our last theme was released. If you are spinning up a fresh WordPress site with our new theme, you are in for an easy ride. However, if you are migrating from the old 2019 theme to the new, there are a few things you’ll need to review after your site migrates. These changes are coming from the evolving WordPress ecosystem—not from our team.
- First, WordPress has changed how navigation is built. The familiar Classic navigation tool is being replaced, and moving forward, navigation will be created using block-based tools.
- Second, any layouts built with Atomic Blocks will need to be rebuilt. Atomic Blocks—used for things like accordions and columns—is a deprecated plugin and no longer supported, so those layouts will need to be recreated using native WordPress blocks in the new theme.
View a short video introducing the UVM Catamount WordPress theme—a lightweight, UVM‑branded theme built on native WordPress and the Gutenberg block editor.
Tutorials to help you migrate your site to the new theme
Direct migration to the new theme- the simplest way
This guide walks you through the steps to successfully adopt the new theme on your existing WordPress website. Migrating to the new UVM Catamount WordPress theme can be as fast as applying the new theme to your site.
Things you will need to review when migrating your site
This video walks through what to expect when transitioning from your current WordPress site to the new UVM Catamount theme. For most sites, the migration will be straightforward but there are a few things that you will need to review.
Recreate your site navigation in the new theme
In this video, you’ll learn how to rebuild your site navigation using the Catamount WordPress block theme. With the removal of the Classic menu interface, navigation is now managed through blocks and the Site Editor. Follow along to understand how to create a menu using the new approach.
We’ll be offering WordPress help hours throughout the summer to support you during this transition, along with tips and guidance on our WordPress Guide.
Step by step instructions to migrate to the new theme with a copy of your website
This video walks through the full process of migrating your site to the new UVM Catamount WordPress theme by working on a copy of your site. This approach is a bit more complex than just applying the theme to your website and working through the refinements. Also, some ofthe steps are dependent upon the Enterprise Technology Services department- which may not have the capacity to work within your time frame.