If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a detailed article that explains what themes are and how using themes can save small business website owners time and money.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily upgrade a WP theme to its latest version inside the admin area.
Updating Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the checklist below to make sure that no settings or customizations are lost and your upgrades go smoothly.
1. Back Up Your Site Files And Data
Backing up your site before making any changes to your site is essential. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore everything to its previous state.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:
2. Check The Changelog
Changes made to the WordPress software can affect the functionality of certain themes. Depending on the theme you have installed, there may be a changelog file accompanying an update listing any new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other changes in the new version.
If the theme changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to upgrade.
3. Test Your Theme
If you can, it’s a good idea to check the theme before installing it on your site.
Typically, web service providers will set up a test site where they can test the latest version of the theme, track bugs and check to see if all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying it to a live site.
If you’re managing your own website, you can install a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain using the same plugins and configuration settings and test new theme versions on your test site before applying it to your main website.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to search online and see if anyone has reported any serious problems with the new theme version.
You can type the theme name and version into Google, and search the theme developer’s support forum (many developers offer this for premium themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized WordPress Themes
If you have made extensive changes to your existing theme files, updating your theme could result in your custom modifications being overwritten. To prevent losing your theme modifications, therefore, we recommend you learn how to create “child themes”.
A WordPress child theme is a theme that inherits the functionality of another theme, called the parent theme, and allows you to modify, or add to, the functionality of that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your customizations get preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with child themes, especially if you plan to use a theme that gets regularly updated. You can learn more about child themes by searching online, or visit the official WordPress child theme page here:
As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is not complicated at all … a few simple clicks and you’re done! The part that takes the most time and effort to complete is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress themes regularly, while others upgrade without going through all of the steps listed in the section above. As mentioned earlier, the above are recommended “best practice” methods for ensuring problem-free upgrades. Ultimately, it is solely your responsibility as a website owner to protect your online properties.
How To Upgrade Themes In WordPress – Tutorial
Upgrading your theme from the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive occasional notifications in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating a theme from your WP dashboard is quite simple and easy. You can update your WordPress themes via the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” area.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Section
To see which themes require updating, go to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over their thumbnail image …
Locate the theme that needs to be updated and click on the “Update Available” message.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress will automatically update your theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now up-to-date …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method described below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating Your Site Themes Using The “Updates” Screen
Update your themes from the “Updates” area as shown below:
To view all themes installed in your website that need updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This brings up the Updates screen. Scroll down to the Themes section …
Check the box next to all the themes you want to update and click on Update Themes to complete the bulk update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WordPress themes from the WP dashboard.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)