If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a comprehensive article that explains what WordPress themes are and how they can be cost-effective and time-saving for business owners.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to upgrade themes inside your admin area.

Updating WP Themes – Best Practices Checklist

Before updating your themes, we recommend going through the checklist below.

1. Back Up Everything

Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is essential. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Sites With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

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 a changelog file included with an update listing new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other changes in the new version.

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

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 and activating it on a live site.

If you’re managing your own website, you can install a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain name using the same plugins and configuration settings and test 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 to 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 provide forums for paid WordPress 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, 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”, all customizations get 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:

• WordPress Child Themes

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 preparation involved prior to upgrading.

Many people don’t upgrade their 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 recommended “best practice” methods for ensuring problem-free upgrades. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your digital properties.

Upgrading Your WP Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial

Updating your theme from your dashboard is easy.

Log into your WordPress administration area …

Depending on the theme(s) installed on your website, you may receive occasional alerts in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …

Updating themes from your WP dashboard is easy. You can update your WordPress themes from the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” area.

Updating Your Theme Using The “Themes” Screen

You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes page.

Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP admin menu …

This brings you to the “Themes” screen …

Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s 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 the theme in seconds …

Your theme is now updated …

Repeat the above to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method described below to bulk update multiple themes.

Updating Your Themes Via The “Updates” Area

Update your themes using the “Updates” section as follows:

To view all themes installed on your website that need 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 bulk update process …

WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …

Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your theme from your admin dashboard.

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