Presets, variables and the Theme Builder

Pages are one thing. Presets, variables, global colours and Theme Builder templates are shared by many pages, so changing one changes every page that uses it. Your AI tool can change all of them, with guards.

What it can change

Presets. It can create, change and delete module presets and option-group presets, such as a border or a font style. A preset is checked against the module’s own settings, and a setting group the module does not have is refused. It can also make a preset the default. A new default restyles every module of that type that has no preset of its own.

Variables and global colours. It can create, change and delete variables of every Divi 5 type: colours, numbers, text, images, links, fonts and gradients. Each value is checked against its type, so a font name cannot go into a colour. Changing a variable changes everything that uses it. The colours and fonts from the Divi Customizer take a new value only. They cannot be deleted.

Theme Builder. It can read your templates and the pages each one covers. It can create and change templates, turn a template or one of its areas off, and build or replace a header, body or footer. A new layout is validated, saved, read back and render-checked the same way a page is. A body layout needs a Post Content module, or pages using the template will not show their own content. The tool warns when it is missing.

Permissions

Changing the whole site needs more than editing a page. The WordPress user who approved the tool, usually an Administrator, must be able to manage theme options. The user also needs the matching permission in Divi’s Role Editor:

• Visual Builder access for presets
• Variables Manager for variables and global colours
• Theme Builder for templates

Without them, the tool is refused and says which permission is missing. Reading presets, variables and templates does not need them.

Guards

• A delete is refused while something uses the item. For a preset, variable or colour, the refusal says how many pages, layouts, presets and variables use it and names some. The tool can still delete it if told to force it, and whatever used it loses that value.
• The default preset cannot be deleted. Make another preset the default first.
• A Theme Builder template is always refused on delete unless the tool is told to force it. The refusal says which pages the template covers and which areas it sets. The default website template cannot be deleted.
• Every write takes a snapshot first. Undo a change shows how to go back.

Ask for a dry run first

Every preset, variable and Theme Builder change can run as a dry run. The tool shows exactly what would change, before and after, and writes nothing. For anything that touches many pages, ask for it:

Do a dry run of changing the primary colour to #1a2b3c and tell me what would change.

Look at the result, then ask it to go ahead. A delete is the best case for a dry run. It shows what would be removed.

Reload open builder tabs

If the Visual Builder or the Theme Builder is open in a browser tab while the tool changes presets, variables or templates, that tab can overwrite the change the next time you save in it. After the assistant makes a change, reload any open builder tabs before you edit.

If you do not want the tool to do this

The tool can only do what the approving user can do. Approve it with a user who has no theme options permission, or whose Role Editor permissions are off, and presets, variables and the Theme Builder stay read-only. You can disconnect a tool at any time.