If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our introduction to WordPress themes. We’ve written a detailed article that explains what WP themes are and how they can be cost-effective and time-saving for business owners.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to easily update WordPress themes to the newest version inside the dashboard.
Updating WP Themes – Best Practices
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before attempting the upgrade process, to help prevent any problems during the update.
1. Back Up Your Website
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 a number of WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups 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 have installed, there may be a changelog file accompanying an update listing new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other 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 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 any bugs and check if all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying and activating 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 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 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 provide forums for premium WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
If you have made extensive changes to your existing theme files, updating 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”, your modifications get preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with child themes, especially if you plan to 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 fairly simple. What can feel slightly bothersome is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress 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 online properties.
How To Update WP Theme In The WP Dashboard – Tutorial
Upgrading your WP themes from your dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) installed on your site, you may receive an occasional alert in your WP Dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating WordPress themes from your WP dashboard is simple and easy. You can update your WordPress theme from the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Screen
To see which themes need updating, go to your Themes page.
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 you want to update and click on the “Update Available” alert.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress automatically updates your theme …
Your theme is now up-to-date …
Repeat the above process to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method below to bulk update multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Updates” Area
Update your themes using the “Updates” screen as follows:
To view all themes on your site that need updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This brings 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 update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WordPress themes in the WP dashboard.
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