If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. It explains what WordPress themes are and how using a theme can save online business owners time and money.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to update your theme to a new version inside the dashboard.
Updating Themes – Best Practices
Before updating your themes, we recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is vital. If something goes wrong, you can always restore your site to its previous settings.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:
2. Check The Changelog
When WordPress upgrades its software to a new version, this can affect the functionality of certain themes. Depending on the theme you have installed, there may be some release notes accompanying an update listing new features, improvements, security fixes or any other information pertaining to the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to update.
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 installing 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 using the same plugins and configuration settings and play with the 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 search online and see if other theme users have reported any issues 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 paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your WordPress Theme Heavily Customized? Use A Child Theme
If you have made extensive changes to your existing WordPress 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 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 on using 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! What can feel slightly bothersome is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress themes regularly, while many upgrade without going through all of the steps listed in the section above. As mentioned earlier, the above are “best practice” methods to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is your responsibility to protect your online assets.
Updating Themes In WordPress – Tutorial
Updating your WordPress themes from the WP 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 dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating themes in your dashboard is very simple and easy. You can update your themes via the “Themes” feature, or the “Updates” area.
Updating Your Themes From The “Themes” Screen
To see which themes need to be updated, go to your Themes area.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
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” notice.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress will automatically update the theme in seconds …
Your 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 at once.
Updating Your Theme Using The “Updates” Area
Update your themes from the “Updates” area as follows:
To view all themes installed in your site that require 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 upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your theme from your admin dashboard.
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