If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. The detailed article explains what themes are and how themes can save small business owners time and money.
This tutorial will show you how to upgrade your theme inside the dashboard.
Updating Themes – Best Practices
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before going through the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Everything
Backing up your files and data before making any updates to your site is vital. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore your website to its previous settings.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:
2. Check The Theme Update Notes
When WordPress upgrades its software to a new version, this can affect the functionality of certain themes. Depending on the theme you are using, there may be some release notes included with an update listing any new features, improvements, bug fixes or any other information pertaining to the new version.
If the changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, you should 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 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 live site.
4. Search Online
Before updating your theme, it’s a good idea to search online to see if other theme users have 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 WordPress 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”, all modifications 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 just visit the WordPress Codex child theme page here:
As you will see below, the actual process of updating a WordPress theme is very easy. What can feel slightly bothersome is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Many 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 recommended “best practice” methods to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is your responsibility to protect your digital assets.
Updating Themes In WordPress – Step-By-Step Tutorial
Updating your theme from the WP dashboard is easy.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on the theme(s) installed on your site, you may receive an occasional alert in your dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating themes from your dashboard is quite simple and easy. You can update your site’s theme from the “Themes” section, or the “Updates” area.
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 dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” screen …
Themes that need updating display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s 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 automatically updates the theme …
Your theme is now updated …
Repeat the process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method described below to upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating Your Site Themes Using The “Updates” Area
Update your WordPress theme using the “Updates” page as follows:
To view all themes 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 update process …
WordPress automatically updates all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your themes from the WP dashboard.
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