How to Guides
These guides assume Helix Ultimate with durable overrides in custom.css unless noted. Pick Path A (plugin on site) or Path B (hosted lab at https://recreatinganew.com/themer) and do not mix them in the same breath without knowing which surface you used.
Brand color pass on Helix without editing template.css
Use the retail plugin on a live page or the hosted lab at https://recreatinganew.com/themer to settle brand tokens. Export or paste lasting values into custom.css only. Leave compiled Helix template.css alone because updates wipe it. Clear Joomla cache and verify menus, modules, and article layouts on the frontend.
Multi-preset sites with different colors per style
Export per preset when colors differ by Helix style. Keep overrides in custom.css or child-template CSS files Themer can allowlist. Do not merge three presets into one compiled file by hand unless you enjoy repeating the work after the next Helix update.
Polish SP Page Builder or JPageBuilder pages
Use the retail plugin on a live page for same-origin rules you can inspect and export. Expect limits on inline builder CSS and shadow DOM depending on version. Move durable overrides into custom.css so builder saves do not erase your work. Version 1.1.6 and later merge page style blocks into one sheet labeled page inline so SP Page Builder inject floods do not hide matched rules.
Shared hosting with export-only
Keep Allow live write off in plugin options. Use the Styles panel as inspector and exporter, paste via FTP or template file manager into custom.css, and clear cache after each paste. You never needed live write to get value from Themer.
Design in the lab, ship on production
Open https://recreatinganew.com/themer, tune against fixtures, export when the look is right, paste into production custom.css, clear cache, and hard-refresh. Expect small differences between fixture chrome and your live template; inspect live selectors with the plugin or browser DevTools when something drifts.
Recover after Helix overwrote your edits
If Helix update wiped colors, you edited compiled CSS instead of custom.css. Restore from backup or from css/_themer_bak/ if live write left a copy, move the override into custom.css, and stop editing compiled sheets for day-to-day brand work.