# Preview Another Theme as an Administrator

> Lets administrators view the site with another installed theme by adding ?wpide_theme=theme-folder to any address, while visitors keep seeing the active theme.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Page Builders & Themes](https://wpide.com/library/category/page-builders/)
- Tags: themes, preview, admin
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/admin-theme-preview/

## Code

```php
$wpide_preview_theme = function () {
    static $theme = null;

    if ( null !== $theme ) {
        return $theme;
    }

    $theme = false;

    if ( empty( $_GET['wpide_theme'] ) || ! function_exists( 'wp_get_current_user' ) || ! current_user_can( 'switch_themes' ) ) { // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Recommended
        return $theme;
    }

    $candidate = wp_get_theme( sanitize_file_name( wp_unslash( $_GET['wpide_theme'] ) ) ); // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Recommended

    if ( $candidate->exists() && ! $candidate->errors() ) {
        $theme = $candidate;
    }

    return $theme;
};

add_action( 'setup_theme', function () use ( $wpide_preview_theme ) {
    add_filter( 'stylesheet', function ( $stylesheet ) use ( $wpide_preview_theme ) {
        $theme = $wpide_preview_theme();
        return $theme ? $theme->get_stylesheet() : $stylesheet;
    } );

    add_filter( 'template', function ( $template ) use ( $wpide_preview_theme ) {
        $theme = $wpide_preview_theme();
        return $theme ? $theme->get_template() : $template;
    } );
}, 1 );
```

## Notes

Use the theme's folder name, for example ?wpide_theme=twentytwentyfour. The choice lasts for that page view only.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Preview Another Theme as an Administrator" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/