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Update Weaver II sites to Weaver Xtreme – A complete solution

Weaver Xtreme Theme Posted on by

Update on May 2, 2026:

Weaver II (and Pro) is obsolete as it no longer works with new PHP versions or the latest WordPress versions – it will crash your site with newer PHP versions.

IF you still have WP Admin access to your site, then for a complete tutorial for converting from Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme, please see the Weaver Guide Article.

We have released a version of Weaver II (download here) that will run on new versions of PHP and WordPress, but is not 100% compatible. Using this solution does require Admin access to your site, but there can be problems with that  If  However, you can use the Weaver II Limited Updater to save your Weaver II settings, and use the Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme plugin described in this article to get yourself updated to Weaver Xtreme.

Weaver II and Weaver II Pro require PHP Version 7.2, and will crash WP on later PHP versions.  The PHP issues are so severe that you might not be able to even get to your site’s WP admin page. All is not lost. Please use the following instructions to switch your site to the latest version of Weaver Xtreme, and then convert your old Weaver II settings to Weaver Xtreme.

These steps require access to your host’s admin panel. If you don’t have access to that tool, you will have to get help from your hosting company.
How to fix this problem  in order of simplicity:
Step 1. If you have access to your site’s files from your host’s admin interface:
 a. Open the sites site-root/wp-content/themes directory. If there is a twenty-xxx directory, then WP will automatically switch to it if there are no other themes. So, delete weaver-ii or weaver-ii-pro directory. If you then try to open your site, it should load.
b. Login into your site. You should get the regular WP Admin interface. Go to Step 3.
Step 2. If there is no twenty-xxx theme available, then you must switch your site to PHP version 7.2.xx. After that, you should be able to login as your site’s admin directly: https://yoursite.xxx/wp-admin. That should log you into your site’s admin page. There will likely be a bunch of error messages cause by Weaver II, but the admin interface will still be there. Now, Step 3.
Step 3. At this point, you have access to the admin interface. Now add Weaver Xtreme theme, and activate it.
Step 4. Your site should now show using the default Weaver Xtreme sub-theme. If you had to switch to PHP 7.2, then you should switch back to the default PHP version of your host (likely 8.something).
Step 5. Now follow the legact directions below to convert to Weaver Xtreme.

 

Converting Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme with WP Admin Access

One of the problems for Weaver II users contemplating switching to Weaver Xtreme is the fact that Weaver Xtreme is a much different theme. The options are quite different – and far more flexible. Many of the classes have different names. The underlying HTML <div> layout is different. Per Page and Per Post settings are not compatible. Using Weaver II shortcodes also presents problems.

Well, we’ve provided a total solution that covers 90% or more of converting a Weaver II to a Weaver Xtreme site. There are two new free plugins available on the WordPress.org plugin repository:

  1. Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme – This plugin converts most Weaver II settings (and depending on your design, all of them) to use equivalent Weaver Xtreme options. And it produces a report showing settings that require manual conversion due to the differences between the themes, or that simply don’t have an equivalent. The converter will also convert the compatible Per Page and Per Post options. Best of all, these conversions are non-destructive – you can easily revert to the old Weaver II design as needed. The converted site won’t look exactly like the old Weaver II site, but the settings take advantage of Weaver Xtremes new features, and so you’ll be able to enhance your site without needing to compensate for the conversion process itself. This converter will also convert most Weaver II Pro settings.
  2. Weaver Themes Shortcode Compatibility – While converting the settings covers most of the upgrade process, if the Weaver II site uses many [weaver_xxxx] shortcodes, the process could require even more effort to find all the pages and posts using the shortcodes. The Weaver Themes Shortcode Compatibility plugin solves this by providing support for the basic Weaver II shortcodes. This plugin allows you to switch to Weaver Xtreme without this hunt and fix process. And it will work with any WP theme if you need to switch to a completely new theme. It will do the same for the basic Weaver Xtreme shortcodes – you can use them with any WP theme. This plugin does not support Weaver II Pro shortcodes, however. That support will be included with the next release of Weaver Xtreme Plus.
    Note: If you prefer, you can manually convert most Weaver II shortcodea to equivalent Weaver Xtreme shortcodea manually – directly in the posts and pages that use them. If you don’t use that many, this might be preferable to using another plugin.

 

For a complete tutorial for converting from Weaver II to Weaver Xtreme, please see the Weaver Guide Article.

Click on the above links to download the plugins directly from the WordPress.org plugin repository.

Using Aspen? – Sorry, that theme is no longer supported at all. The above conversion utility will work with Aspen.

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