If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. It explains what 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 update themes in your dashboard.
Updating Your WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your WordPress themes, we recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below to make sure that no theme settings or customizations are lost and your upgrades go smoothly.
1. Back Up Your Files
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is essential. Whenever something doesn’t go as planned, you can always restore everything to its former settings.
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 backup process here:
2. Check The Changelog
Changes made to the WordPress software 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, security fixes or important changes in the new theme version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, it’s best to update.
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 a theme, track any bugs and verify that the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings before applying it to a live site.
If you manage your own website, you can set up a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain with 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 to see if anyone has 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 paid themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your WordPress Theme 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 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 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 fairly easy. 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 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, it is your responsibility as a website owner to protect your online assets.
Updating WP Theme In Your Dashboard – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Upgrading your themes in the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on which theme(s) are installed on your site, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating WordPress themes from your WP dashboard is easy. You can update your themes from the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” page.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Area
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” screen …
WordPress 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” message.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress automatically updates the theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now up-to-date …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method below to update multiple themes.
Updating Your Themes Using The “Updates” Section
Update your WordPress themes from the “Updates” screen as shown below:
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 …
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 update your WP themes from your admin dashboard.
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