If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our overview of WordPress themes. This comprehensive article explains what WordPress themes are and how using a theme can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business owners.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily upgrade a WordPress theme inside the dashboard.
Updating A WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
Before updating your themes, we recommend going through the handy checklist below.
1. Back Up Your Files
Backing up your site before making any updates to your site is vital. 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 WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:
2. Check The Changelog
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 which provides an overview of new features, improvements, bug fixes or important changes in the new version.
If the 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.
Typically, web service providers will set up a test site where they can test the latest version of the theme, track bugs and check to see if 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 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 do a quick search online to see if other theme users have reported any serious problems with the new theme version.
You can type 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 Themes
If you have made extensive customizations to your existing theme files, upgrading 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 are 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 just visit the official WordPress child theme page here:
As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is easy. What can feel slightly bothersome is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Some people don’t upgrade their 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 digital assets.
Updating Your Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Upgrading your themes in your dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on what theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive an occasional notification in your WP Dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating WordPress themes from the dashboard is easy. You can update your WordPress theme using the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” feature.
Updating Your Themes From The “Themes” Section
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes page.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WP admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” screen …
Themes that need updating 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 will automatically update your theme in seconds …
Your WordPress theme is now updated …
Repeat the above to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method described below to upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Updates” Area
Update your WordPress themes from the “Updates” screen as follows:
To view all themes installed in your website that require updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This opens 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 upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your themes from the WP dashboard.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group