If you are new to WordPress, make sure you read our overview of WordPress themes. The detailed article explains what WP themes are and how using a theme can save small business owners time and money.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to upgrade themes to the newest version inside your dashboard.
Upgrading Themes – Best Practices Checklist
We recommend going through the checklist below before going through the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your files and data before making any changes 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 many free and paid WordPress 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 are using, there may be some release notes accompanying 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 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 the theme, track any bugs and make sure that 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 install a test WordPress site on a subdomain or a separate domain 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 and 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 premium WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized WordPress Themes
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 the parent theme. When you update the “parent theme”, all customizations are preserved through the “child theme.”
If you plan to customize your theme files, then we recommend becoming familiar with child themes, especially if you plan on using a theme that gets regularly updated. You can learn more about child themes by searching online, or 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! The step in the update process that takes the most time and effort to complete 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 for ensuring problem-free upgrades. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your online properties.
How To Update Your Theme – Tutorial
Upgrading your themes from your dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on the theme(s) you have installed on your site, you may receive an occasional notification in your WordPress Dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating themes from the dashboard is easy. You can update your WordPress themes using the “Themes” area, or the “Updates” page.
Updating WordPress Themes Using The “Themes” Area
To see which themes need to be updated, go to your Themes area.
Select Appearance > Themes from your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
WordPress 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 will automatically update your theme …
Your theme is now up-to-date …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your remaining themes, or use the method described below to upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating Your Theme Via The “Updates” Section
Update your theme via the “Updates” page 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 update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of the selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your themes in your admin dashboard.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now