If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our introduction to WordPress themes. This in-depth article explains what themes are and how they can be cost-effective and time-saving for online business owners.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to easily upgrade your WordPress theme in the dashboard.
Upgrading Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before attempting the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is essential. Whenever something doesn’t go as planned, you can always restore everything to its former settings.
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 Theme Update Notes
When WordPress upgrades its software to a new version, this can affect the functionality of certain themes. Depending on the theme you are using, there may be a changelog file accompanying an update which provides an overview of any new features, improvements, security fixes or any other changes in the new theme version.
If the theme 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 any bugs and verify that the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings before installing and activating it on a live site.
If you manage your own website, you can set up a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain name using 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 search online and see if anyone has reported any serious problems 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 offer this for paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
If you have made extensive customizations to your existing WordPress 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 are preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with using 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 WordPress Codex child theme page here:
As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is very simple. The bit that takes the most time and effort to complete is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress themes regularly, while many upgrade without going through some or 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 your responsibility as a website owner to protect your digital assets.
Upgrading WP Theme In Your Admin Dashboard – Tutorial
Updating your themes in the WP dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive occasional alerts in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating a WordPress theme in the WP dashboard is easy. You can update your site’s theme via the “Themes” screen, or the “Updates” page.
Updating WordPress Themes Via The “Themes” Page
To see which themes need updating, go to your Themes page.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WP admin menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
WordPress Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over their thumbnail image …
Locate the theme you want to update and click on the “Update Available” alert.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress automatically updates the theme in seconds …
Your theme is now updated …
Repeat the above process to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method described below to upgrade multiple themes.
Updating Your Site Themes Using The “Updates” Page
Update your WordPress theme via the “Updates” section as follows:
To view all themes on your website that require updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This opens up the Updates screen. Scroll down to the Themes section …
Select all the themes you want to update and click on Update Themes to complete the bulk update process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your WP theme in the WP dashboard.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)