If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. We’ve written a comprehensive article that explains what WP themes are and how using themes can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business owners.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to easily upgrade your WP themes inside the admin area.
Updating Themes – Best Practices
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before attempting the upgrade process, to help prevent any problems during the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your website before making any changes to your site is essential. This way, if something goes wrong, you can always restore things back to their former configuration.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many WordPress plugins you can use. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:
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 some release notes accompanying an update listing any new features, improvements, security 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 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 bugs and verify that 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 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 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 premium themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Is Your WordPress Theme Customized? Use A Child Theme
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 that parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, your 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 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 not complicated at all … a few simple clicks and you’re done! What can feel slightly bothersome is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Some 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, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your online assets.
Updating Your Theme – Tutorial
Upgrading your theme in your admin dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on which theme(s) are installed on your website, you may receive an occasional notification in your WordPress Dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating a WordPress theme in the WP dashboard is a simple process. You can update your themes via the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” section.
Updating WordPress Themes From The “Themes” Section
You can see which themes need to be updated by going to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes in your WordPress admin menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” screen …
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” alert.
When the theme details window opens up, click on update now …
WordPress will automatically update your theme in seconds …
Your theme is now updated …
Repeat the above process to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method below to bulk upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Updates” Screen
Update your theme using the “Updates” screen as shown below:
To view all themes installed on your site 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 upgrade process …
WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your themes in the WP dashboard.
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