If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our introduction to WordPress themes. It explains what WP themes are and how using a theme can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business website owners.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to update your WordPress theme to the latest version inside the dashboard.
Updating Themes – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating any themes, we recommend going through the checklist below.
1. Make A 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. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process 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 have installed, there may be some release notes accompanying an update listing new features, improvements, security fixes or any other changes in the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, you should update.
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 the theme, track bugs and make sure that all plugins are working fine with the new theme before installing and activating 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 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 do a quick search online and see if anyone has reported any serious problems 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. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
If you have made extensive changes to your existing theme files, upgrading 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 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 use a theme that gets regularly updated. You can learn more about child themes by searching online, or visit the WordPress Codex 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 others 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, it is solely your responsibility as a website owner to protect your digital properties.
Updating Your WP Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your theme from the WP dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on which theme(s) are installed on your website, you may receive an occasional alert in your WordPress Dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating WordPress themes in the dashboard is a simple process. You can update your theme using the “Themes” feature, or the “Updates” page.
Updating Your Themes Via The “Themes” Page
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WP admin menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s 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 automatically updates your theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the above to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method described below to upgrade multiple themes.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Updates” Area
Update your WordPress themes from the “Updates” area as shown below:
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 update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes from your dashboard.
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