If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our introduction to WordPress themes. It explains what WordPress themes are and how they can be cost-effective and time-saving for small business owners.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily upgrade your WP theme to its newest version inside your dashboard.

Updating WP Themes – Best Practices

We recommend going through the “best practices” checklist below before going through the upgrade process.

1. Make A Complete Backup

Backing up your website before making any updates to your site is vital. Whenever something doesn’t go as planned, you can always restore things back to their former settings.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are many free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Clone And Keep Your WP Website Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

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 some release notes included with an update listing any new features, improvements, security 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 any bugs and check if all plugins are working fine with the new theme 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 plugins and configuration settings and play with the new theme versions on your test site before applying it to your live website.

4. Search Online

Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to do a quick search online and see if other theme users have reported any issues 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 Theme Customized? Use A Child Theme

If you have made extensive customizations 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 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 just visit the WordPress Codex child theme page here:

• WordPress Child Themes

As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is very easy. The step that takes the most time and effort to complete is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.

Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress themes regularly, while many upgrade without going through 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 WP Themes From Your Admin Dashboard – Step-By-Step Tutorial

Updating your themes from your dashboard is easy.

Log into your WordPress administration area …

Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your website, you may receive an occasional notification in your WordPress Dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …

Updating a theme in the WP dashboard is easy. You can update your theme via the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” section.

Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Section

To see which themes require updating, go to your Themes page.

Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP admin menu …

This brings you to the “Themes” page …

Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over their 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 up-to-date …

Repeat the above process to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method below to upgrade multiple themes.

Updating Your Site’s Theme Using The “Updates” Screen

Update your WordPress themes using the “Updates” page 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 …

Select all the themes you want to update and click on Update Themes to complete the update process …

WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …

Congratulations! Now you know how to update your WP theme from your dashboard.

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