If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. It explains what themes are and how using themes can be cost-effective and time-saving for online business owners.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to update a theme in the dashboard.
Updating Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below to help prevent any problems occuring during the process.
1. Back Up Your Site
Backing up your website before making any updates to your site is vital. If something goes wrong, you can always restore.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:
2. Check The Changelog
Changes made to the WordPress software can affect the functionality of certain themes. Depending on the theme you are using, there may be some release notes included with an update listing any new features, improvements, security fixes or important information pertaining to the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to 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 an installed theme, track any bugs and check if all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying it to 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 name with 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 do a quick search online and see if anyone has reported any serious problems 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 provide forums for premium 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 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 that 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 plan to 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 preparation 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 digital properties.
Upgrading WP Theme From The WP Dashboard – Tutorial
Upgrading your WordPress theme from the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on which theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating WordPress themes from the dashboard is a simple process. You can update your WordPress theme from the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Page
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
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” notice.
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 above process to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method below to update multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes Via The “Updates” Screen
Update your WordPress theme from the “Updates” page as follows:
To view all themes in your site that require updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This brings 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 upgrade process …
WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your theme in your admin 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)