If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our overview of WordPress themes. The comprehensive article explains what themes are and how they can save online business owners time and money.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to update your themes inside the admin area.
Upgrading Themes – Best Practices
Before updating your themes, we recommend going through the checklist below to help prevent any problems occuring during the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Your Site Fully
Backing up your website 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 configuration.
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 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 accompanying an update which provides an overview of 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, you should update.
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 bugs and make sure that all plugins are working fine with the new theme 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 using the same configuration settings (e.g. plugins) 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 do a quick search online to see if other theme users have 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 offer this for paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your Theme Heavily Customized? Use A Child Theme
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”, all customizations get 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 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 many upgrade without going through some or all of the steps listed in the section above. As mentioned earlier, the above are “best practice” methods for ensuring problem-free upgrades. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your online properties.
Updating Your Themes – Tutorial
Upgrading your theme in the WP dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating WordPress themes from your dashboard is easy. You can update your theme via the “Themes” screen, or the “Updates” feature.
Updating Your Site Themes Via The “Themes” Section
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
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 automatically updates your theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method described below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Updates” Page
Update your theme via the “Updates” section as follows:
To view all themes installed in your site that need 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 your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your theme in the WP dashboard.
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