If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. It explains what themes are and how they can save business owners time and money.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to upgrade WP themes with just a few clicks inside the admin area.
Updating Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices
We recommend going through the checklist below before going through the upgrade process, to reduce the risk of any problems occurring during the updating process.
1. Back Up Your Site Files And Data
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is essential. 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 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 are using, there may be a changelog file included with an update which provides an overview of any new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other 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 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 an installed theme, track bugs and verify that the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings before installing it on a live site.
If you manage your own website, you can set up a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain name using the same configuration settings (e.g. plugins) and play with the new theme versions on your test site before applying it to your main site.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to 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. Is Your WordPress Theme Heavily Customized? Use A Child Theme
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 the parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, all customizations are 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 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 part of the updating process that takes the most time and effort to complete is the preparation 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 to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, it is solely the website owner’s responsibility to protect their online assets.
Upgrading Themes In WordPress – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your themes in the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on which 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 WordPress theme in your dashboard is very simple and easy. You can update your WordPress themes via the “Themes” feature, or the “Updates” area.
Updating WordPress Themes Via The “Themes” Area
To see which themes need updating, go to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WordPress dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
WordPress Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over their 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 the theme …
Your theme is now up-to-date …
Repeat the above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method below to bulk upgrade multiple themes.
Updating Your Theme From The “Updates” Section
Update your theme from the “Updates” area as shown below:
To view all themes on your website that require 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 bulk upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your themes in the WP dashboard.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now