If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. We’ve written a comprehensive article that explains what themes are and how they can save website owners significant time and money.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to easily update WP themes to the newest version inside the admin area.
Upgrading Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before going through the upgrade process.
1. Make A Full Site Backup
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is vital. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore everything to its previous state.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can 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 a changelog file included with an update listing new features, improvements, bug fixes or important changes in the new theme version.
If the theme changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to update.
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 a theme, track any bugs and check if all plugins are working fine with the new theme before installing it on a live site.
If you manage your own website, you can install 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 site.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to search online and see if other theme users have reported any serious problems 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. Is Your WordPress Theme Heavily Customized? Use A Child Theme
If you have made extensive customizations 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 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 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 official WordPress child theme page here:
As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is easy. The step that takes the most time and effort to complete is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their themes regularly, while many 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 assets.
Upgrading WP Themes In Your Admin Dashboard – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your themes in your dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on which theme(s) are installed on your site, you may receive occasional notifications in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating a WordPress theme from your dashboard is a very simple process. You can update your WordPress theme from the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” page.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Area
To see which themes require updating, go to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over their 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 will automatically update the theme …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method below to bulk upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes Via The “Updates” Screen
Update your theme via the “Updates” area as follows:
To view all themes on your site 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 upgrade process …
WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your theme from your admin dashboard.
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