If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. This comprehensive article explains what WP themes are and how using a theme can save small business owners significant time and money.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to easily update themes inside the admin area.
Updating WordPress Themes – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the checklist below to make sure that your update goes smoothly.
1. Back Up Your Website Fully
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is essential. If something goes wrong, you can always restore everything to its former state.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully 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 a changelog file included with an update which provides an overview of any new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other information pertaining to the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, you should upgrade.
3. Test The 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 a theme, track any bugs and make sure 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 live site.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to search online and see if anyone has 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 premium WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your 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 that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, all modifications 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 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 easy. The part that takes the most time and effort to complete is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their 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 “best practice” methods to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your digital properties.
Upgrading Themes In WordPress – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Upgrading your WP theme in your dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) installed on your site, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating themes from the WP dashboard is quite simple and easy. You can update your theme using the “Themes” screen, or the “Updates” area.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Screen
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
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” 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 updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method described below to bulk upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Updates” Screen
Update your theme from the “Updates” page as follows:
To view all themes in your site 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 automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WordPress themes in your admin dashboard.
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