How To Update WordPress Themes

Learn how to easily update WordPress themes inside your dashboard …

Updating WP Themes In The WP DashboardIf you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a detailed article that explains what 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 a theme with just a few clicks inside the dashboard.

Upgrading Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist

Upgrading Your WordPress Theme - Best Practices Checklist

We recommend going through the handy checklist below before attempting the upgrade process.

1. Back Up Everything

Backing up your files and data 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 free and paid plugins you can use. You can read 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 have installed, there may be some release notes included with an update which provides an overview of new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other information pertaining to the new version.

If the theme changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to upgrade.

3. Test Your Theme

If you can, it’s a good idea to check the theme before installing it on your site.

Useful Tip

Typically, web service providers will set up a test site where they can test the latest version of an installed theme, track any bugs and make sure that all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying and activating it on a live site.

If you’re managing 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 main website.

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 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 WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).

5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized WordPress Themes

If you have made extensive customizations 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 that 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 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 official WordPress child theme page here:

Practical Tip

As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is simple. What can feel slightly bothersome is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.

Many people don’t upgrade their themes regularly, while others 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, it is solely your responsibility as a website owner to protect your digital properties.

Upgrading Themes In WordPress – Step-By-Step Tutorial

Updating your WordPress theme in your admin dashboard is simple.

Log into your WordPress administration area …

WordPress Theme Management: Upgrading Your WP Theme

Depending on which theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive an occasional notification in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …

Updating Themes In WordPress

Updating WordPress themes from the WP dashboard is a simple process. You can update your WordPress theme using the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” screen.

Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Page

To see which themes require updating, go to your Themes area.

Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …

WordPress Theme Management: Updating WordPress Theme In The WP Dashboard

This brings you to the “Themes” screen …

WordPress Theme Management: Upgrading Your Theme

WordPress Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s thumbnail image …

How To Upgrade Your WP Themes

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

Theme Management: How To Update Your WordPress Theme

WordPress automatically updates your theme in seconds …

Theme Management: Upgrading Themes In WordPress

Your theme is now up-to-date …

Theme Management: Upgrading Your Themes

Repeat the above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method described below to bulk upgrade multiple themes at once.

Updating Your Site Themes Using The “Updates” Screen

Update your theme via the “Updates” area as follows:

To view all themes installed on your site that need updating, click on Dashboard > Updates

Theme Management: Upgrading Your Theme

This brings up the Updates screen. Scroll down to the Themes section …

Upgrading A Theme In WordPress

Check the box next to all the themes you want to update and click on Update Themes to complete the bulk update process …

WordPress Theme Management: Updating Your WordPress Theme

WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …

Updating WordPress Theme In Your Dashboard

Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes from your 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