If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. It explains what WordPress themes are and how using themes can save business website owners significant time and money.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to update a WP theme in the dashboard.
Updating A WordPress Theme – Best Practices
Before updating any WordPress themes, we recommend going through the handy checklist below.
1. Make A Backup
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is vital. 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 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 Changelog
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 included with an update listing new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other 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 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 an installed theme, track any bugs and make sure that all plugins are working fine with the new theme before installing 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 live site.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to do a quick search online and see if anyone has reported any issues 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 premium 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, updating 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 the 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 using 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 WordPress Codex child theme page here:
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 others 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 to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, it is your responsibility as a website owner to protect your digital properties.
Updating Your WordPress Themes – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Upgrading your themes in your dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on which theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating WordPress themes from the dashboard is simple and easy. You can update your WordPress themes using the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” page.
Updating Your Theme Via The “Themes” Screen
To see which themes need to be updated, go to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WP admin menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s thumbnail image …
Locate the theme that needs to be updated and click on the “Update Available” notice.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress automatically updates your theme …
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 upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Updates” Section
Update your WordPress themes using the “Updates” screen as follows:
To view all themes in your site 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 bulk upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your theme in your admin dashboard.
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