If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. We’ve written an in-depth article that explains what WordPress themes are and how themes can be cost-effective and time-saving for online business owners.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to easily upgrade your theme to the latest version inside your admin area.
Updating Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices
Before updating your themes, we recommend going through the handy checklist below to ensure that your upgrades go smoothly.
1. Back Up Your Site Fully
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is vital. This way, if something goes wrong, 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 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 are using, there may be some release notes 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 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 an installed theme, track bugs and check to see if all plugins are working fine with the new theme before installing and activating 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 plugins and configuration settings and play with the 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 do a quick search online and see if other theme users have 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 offer this for premium WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized WordPress Themes
If you have made extensive changes to your existing WordPress 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 that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your modifications 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 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 very simple. The step 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 some or 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 solely your responsibility to protect your online properties.
Upgrading Your Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your themes from the WP dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional alert in your WordPress Dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating themes from your WP dashboard is very simple and easy. You can update your theme using the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” area.
Updating Your Site’s Theme From The “Themes” Area
You can see which themes need to be updated by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WP admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s 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 up-to-date …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method below to update multiple themes.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Updates” Page
Update your WordPress themes via the “Updates” page as follows:
To view all themes in 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 your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WP themes in your dashboard.
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