If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a comprehensive article that explains what WP themes are and how they can be cost-effective and time-saving for web business owners.
This tutorial will show you how to easily upgrade your themes inside your admin area.
Upgrading WP Themes – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating any themes, we recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below to ensure that your upgrades go smoothly.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is essential. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore.
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 backup process here:
2. Check The Changelog
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 accompanying an update which provides an overview of new features, improvements, security fixes or any other information pertaining to the new version.
If the theme 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 check if the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings before applying it to a live site.
If you manage 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 test 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 search online to 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. Is Your WordPress Theme Customized? Use A Child Theme
If you have made extensive changes 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 the 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 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.
Some 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 recommended “best practice” methods for ensuring problem-free upgrades. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is your responsibility to protect your online properties.
How To Upgrade Your Theme – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your themes from your dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive occasional alerts in your WordPress Dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating a theme from your dashboard is easy. You can update your site’s theme from the “Themes” screen, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Section
You can see which themes require updating by going to your Themes page.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over their thumbnail image …
Locate the theme that needs to be updated and click on the “Update Available” message.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress will automatically update the theme …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method described below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating Your Themes Using The “Updates” Area
Update your WordPress theme using the “Updates” page as shown below:
To view all themes in 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 update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WP themes in your admin dashboard.
***
"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum