If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our introduction to WordPress themes. This detailed article explains what WP themes are and how themes can be cost-effective and time-saving for business website owners.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to upgrade a theme in your dashboard.
Upgrading WP Themes – Best Practices
Before updating any WordPress themes, we recommend going through the checklist below.
1. Back Up Your Files
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is vital. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore things back to their previous configuration.
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 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 some release notes accompanying an update listing any 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, 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 the theme, track any bugs and verify that 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 with the same plugins and configuration settings and play with the new theme versions on your test site before applying it to your main website.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to do a quick search online to see if anyone has reported any issues 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 paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
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 that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your customizations are preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with using 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 easy. What can feel slightly bothersome is the preparation 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, as a website owner, it is your responsibility to protect your digital properties.
Updating Your Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Upgrading your WP theme from the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating a WordPress theme from the dashboard is easy. You can update your WordPress theme via the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” screen.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Page
To see which themes need updating, go to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes from your WordPress dashboard menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” screen …
WordPress Themes with new versions 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 the theme …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the above to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating Your Site’s Theme From The “Updates” Area
Update your WordPress themes from the “Updates” section as follows:
To view all themes on your website 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 automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes in your dashboard.
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