If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. We’ve written a comprehensive article that explains what themes are and how using a theme can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business owners.
This tutorial will show you how to upgrade your themes in your dashboard.
Upgrading WP Themes – Best Practices
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the checklist below to make sure that your upgrades go smoothly.
1. Make A Full Site Backup
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is essential. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore your site to its previous configuration.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:
2. Check The Theme Update Notes
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 accompanying an update which provides an overview of new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other information pertaining to 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 the theme, track any bugs and verify that all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying and activating it on a live site.
If you manage your own website, you can install a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain name with the same plugins and configuration settings and test new theme versions on your test site before applying it to your live website.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to do a quick search online and see if other theme users have 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 offer this for paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your WordPress Theme Heavily Customized? Use A Child Theme
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 the parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, all customizations are 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 fairly easy. What can feel slightly bothersome 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 to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your digital properties.
Updating WP Themes In Your Dashboard – Tutorial
Upgrading your WordPress themes from your dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive occasional notifications in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating themes in your WP dashboard is easy. You can update your WordPress themes using the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” screen.
Updating WordPress Themes Via The “Themes” Page
To see which themes need to be updated, go to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
WordPress Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s 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 theme is now updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method below to bulk upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Updates” Section
Update your themes using the “Updates” screen as follows:
To view all themes installed on your site that require updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This opens 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 upgrade process …
WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes 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)