Use a template for a new site’s starting pages and layout. Use a design system to change the look of a supported site you are already working on. Review the result before sharing it.
Owners, Editors and Viewers with accepted site access can review the site’s design. An Owner or Editor can apply a design system, return to the template’s original look and use the available Undo action. A Viewer cannot change the site’s look. See Team, roles and invitations.
What is the difference between a template, a design system and my brand?
A template supplies the starting website; a design system changes its colours, fonts and shapes; your brand describes the visual identity and words that represent your business.
A template includes its own layouts, pages and sample content. Choose the version offered for the platform you want. A design being offered for one platform does not mean it has a version for every platform.
A design system controls the visual treatment of a supported template. “Template default” means the original look supplied by that template. Selecting a system is separate from choosing which pages to create or giving Tracy the business details it should use.
Your brand includes colours, fonts, logos, images and the language used to describe your business. A reference website can help communicate a visual direction, but its design is separate from your own pages and business facts. Describe which parts you want to retain or change instead of assuming that a reference replaces your site’s content.
Read Create a new site for the setup process.
Can I preview a design before creating a site?
You can open a design’s preview and check the pages, devices and themes offered for that design before choosing it.
- Open “Design templates” and narrow the library using search, “Categories” and the platform filters. The platform filters distinguish WordPress, Joomla and EmDash designs.
- Choose “Open preview” on a design. For a website template, select the page or layout you want to inspect.
- Compare “Desktop” and “Mobile”. Other library previews can also offer “Tablet”; the device choices depend on the preview type.
- Compare “Light” and “Dark” when those controls are offered. A template without a dark demo does not show the theme switch. A generated dark sample is not proof that the template has its own dark mode.
- Use “Live” or “Screenshot” when the template provides both, or “Open demo” to inspect its demo. A screenshot is a saved image, so it cannot demonstrate interactive behaviour.
- To start a new site, use “Create with” and a supported platform, then review the site setup before creating it. The signed-in person who creates the site becomes its Owner.
A template demo shows the starting design and its sample content. It is different from a preview of your existing website with a design system applied. A design-system preview during setup shows the selected template rather than a finished website written for your business.
A preview does not guarantee that every effect or interaction will be shown. Some design-system previews use a static page without its scripts; others show a live page. Check the actual website after applying a system. See Preview and website admin.
If this does not work: Clear restrictive filters if no designs match. If a preview or demo fails, read its message and try again later. An unavailable demo does not by itself prove that your own site failed. A disabled platform choice requires a supported design and platform combination.
Does Try on change my actual site?
Try on your site applies the design system immediately to the working website in Tracy.
Opening a design-system card’s preview does not write the new look to the site. Pressing “Try on your site” does. Do not use that action as though it only changed a picture in a dialog.
An Owner or Editor can use this process on a supported site:
- Open the site and choose “Design system” from its start screen.
- Check “Wearing now” and “Template default” to understand the current look, then open a design-system card to preview it.
- Use the available device and theme controls to review it. Choose “Try on your site” when you want to apply it to the working website.
- Check the changed site. Use “Keep” to leave the look in place, or “Undo” while it is offered to request the previous look.
The site changes before you choose “Keep”. Closing a try-on dialog also leaves an applied system in place; closing it is not an Undo action. A successful try can close the dialog automatically and show the changed site with the Keep and Undo controls.
Use “Design system” for a whole-site design-system change. You can ask Tracy about specific colours, text or elements in chat, but do not assume a chat request replaces the whole design system. A Viewer can ask read-only questions and leave comments for an Owner or Editor to act on.
For publication and who can see the working site, read Publish and go live. Do not assume that the word Try creates a separate private copy.
Does a design system keep my pages and text?
Changing a design system keeps your existing pages and words while changing colours, fonts and shapes.
It does not recreate the website from a different template or rewrite your business content. Cards can use your site’s words when Tracy can read them, or show sample words when it cannot. Sample words in a design card do not prove that your website text was replaced.
Review the actual pages after the change, including headings, navigation, buttons, images and text contrast. Check both light and dark appearances when your template supports them. A visual change can affect how existing content fits even though the words remain the same.
What are the limits of Keep and Undo?
Keep leaves the applied look in place; Undo can reverse only the latest applicable design-system change, once, while the affected design settings still match that change.
“Keep” dismisses the try controls; it is not a separate save or publish step. It does not create an unlimited history of looks to restore later.
While a try is still active, trying another system first attempts to undo the current try. This lets the new try return to the look from before that sequence of tries. If that undo is refused, Tracy stops rather than silently replacing the later change.
Undo can be refused if another design-system application is now the latest one, the change was already undone, or the affected look has changed since it was applied. The last case protects later changes from being overwritten. Review the reason instead of repeating the action.
To return to the template’s original look, an Owner or Editor can open “Template default” and use “Back to template default” when offered. This changes the look again; it does not restore old pages or text.
AI can make mistakes. Not every change can be undone, and external effects cannot be recalled. Review See what Tracy changed and Undo and backups before relying on recovery.
Why can I not apply a design system to my site?
Design systems apply to supported sites created from Tracy templates, not to imported sites.
An imported site keeps its existing template and design arrangements. Importing it does not turn it into a Tracy template that supports design-system switching. An Owner or Editor can still request supported changes to particular parts of the imported website through chat. See Import a site and Chatting with Tracy.
A Tracy template can also be locked for design-system changes if it does not pass the required readiness checks. The start screen can omit the Design system entry for a locked site that has no system applied. A template Tracy cannot identify, an unsupported template version or an incompatible design can prevent an application. A system can be refused if its text would be hard to read.
A readiness lock prevents a new system being selected or applied; it does not automatically remove a system the site already uses. Read the explanation shown for your site. A Viewer must ask an Owner or Editor to perform the change even when the template supports it.
Are brands measured from public websites private?
A brand measured from a public website can be shared in the public community design library, including a brand measured from your own public site.
Brand measurement can include the public page’s colours, fonts, logos, images and copy. Do not assume that a brand is private merely because it describes your business or appears alongside your own site. Measured material can become part of a shared design reference.
Use only public material you are entitled to use. Do not include passwords, sign-in codes, confidential documents or private customer information in a brand reference. A public reference does not establish that you have permission to reuse its logos, text or images.
A website drawn mainly by scripts or blocked from automated access can produce incomplete or unusable measurements. A measured reference should be checked against the source website rather than treated as a complete record of its design.
Read Security and your data for the wider data and access guidance.
What should I do if a design change fails?
Read the displayed reason and check the actual website before trying the same change again.
- If Tracy is already changing the site, wait for that work to finish before applying another system.
- If the system was applied but is not visible, reload the website preview and inspect the affected pages.
- If the site did not answer and the result is uncertain, the change may or may not have landed. Check the current website and Site changes before repeating it.
- If Undo is refused, check whether a later design change needs to be preserved. Do not assume retrying can make an older undo safe.
- If the design library or site information cannot be read, use “Try again” when offered after checking your connection.
For a persistent problem, contact Tracy Discord. Include the affected site, design name, action and exact displayed error. Remove private information from screenshots and copied details before sharing them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a template, a design system and my brand?A template supplies the starting website; a design system changes its colours, fonts and shapes; your brand describes the visual identity and words that represent your business.
Can I preview a design before creating a site?You can open a design’s preview and check the pages, devices and themes offered for that design before choosing it.
Does Try on change my actual site?Try on your site applies the design system immediately to the working website in Tracy.
Does a design system keep my pages and text?Changing a design system keeps your existing pages and words while changing colours, fonts and shapes.
What are the limits of Keep and Undo?Keep leaves the applied look in place; Undo can reverse only the latest applicable design-system change, once, while the affected design settings still match that change.
Why can I not apply a design system to my site?Design systems apply to supported sites created from Tracy templates, not to imported sites.
Are brands measured from public websites private?A brand measured from a public website can be shared in the public community design library, including a brand measured from your own public site.
What should I do if a design change fails?Read the displayed reason and check the actual website before trying the same change again.