If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. The comprehensive article explains what WP themes are and how using a theme can save web business owners significant time and money.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to update themes in the admin area.
Upgrading WordPress Themes – Best Practices Checklist
We recommend going through the checklist below before attempting the upgrade process.
1. Make A Complete Backup
Backing up your files and data before making any updates to your site is vital. Whenever something doesn’t go as planned, you can always restore.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups 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 some release notes included with an update which provides an overview of new features, improvements, security fixes or important information pertaining to the new version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, you should 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 an installed theme, track bugs and verify that the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings before installing it on a live site.
If you’re managing your own website, you can set up a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain with the same configuration settings (e.g. plugins) 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 do a quick search online to see if anyone has reported any issues with the new theme version.
You can enter the theme name and version into Google, and search the theme developer’s support forum (many developers provide forums for paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your WordPress Theme Customized? Use A Child Theme
If you have made extensive changes to your existing theme files, updating your theme may 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 the parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your modifications 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 just 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 of the update process that takes the most time and effort to complete is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their 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 to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, it is solely the website owner’s responsibility to protect their online assets.
Updating Your Theme – Tutorial
Updating your WordPress theme from your dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive occasional alerts in your WP Dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating a theme in the dashboard is simple and easy. You can update your theme using the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Screen
To see which themes need to be updated, go to your Themes area.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
WordPress Themes with new versions 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 the theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method described below to update multiple themes.
Updating Your Site Themes From The “Updates” Page
Update your WordPress theme via the “Updates” area as follows:
To view all themes on your site 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 update process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your WordPress theme in your admin dashboard.
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