If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a detailed article that explains what WordPress themes are and how themes can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business website owners.
This tutorial will show you how to easily update a theme to its latest version inside the admin area.
Updating A WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below to help prevent any problems that could affect your site during the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your files and data before making any updates to your site is vital. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their previous configuration.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many free and paid plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process 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 are using, there may be some release notes accompanying an update listing any new features, improvements, security fixes or important changes in the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to 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 a 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’re managing your own website, you can install a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain with the same configuration settings (e.g. plugins) 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 to 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. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
If you have made extensive customizations 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 that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your modifications get preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with the use of 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! The step in the updating process that takes the most time and effort to complete is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their 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 your responsibility as a website owner to protect your online assets.
How To Update WP Themes From Your Admin Dashboard – Tutorial
Updating your WordPress theme from the WP dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional notification in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating themes from your WP dashboard is easy. You can update your site’s theme using the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Area
You can see which themes need to be updated by going to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
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” notice.
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 process described above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Updates” Screen
Update your WordPress theme from the “Updates” screen as follows:
To view all themes installed in your site that need 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 upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes from your dashboard.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)