If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our introduction to WordPress themes. This in-depth article explains what themes are and how using a theme can save online business owners time and money.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to update your themes to the latest version inside the admin area.
Updating A WordPress Theme – Best Practices Checklist
We recommend going through the checklist below before going through the upgrade process, to ensure that your update goes smoothly.
1. Back Up Your Site
Backing up your website before making any updates to your site is vital. If something goes wrong, you can always restore.
If you don’t want to perform manual backups, there are a number of free and paid WordPress plugins you can use. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups 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 have installed, there may be some release notes accompanying an update which provides an overview of new features, improvements, security fixes or important information pertaining to the new theme 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 an installed theme, track bugs and check if the new theme version doesn’t conflict with any existing plugins or settings 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 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 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 provide forums 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, upgrading 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 that 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 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 very easy. The step in this process that takes the most time and effort to complete is the precautionary work involved prior to upgrading.
Some 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 to help you avoid problems. Ultimately, as a website owner, it is solely your responsibility to protect your digital properties.
Updating WP Themes From Your Admin Dashboard – Tutorial
Upgrading your WP themes from your admin dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress admin area …
Depending on what theme(s) are installed on your website, you may receive occasional alerts in your dashboard that your theme(s) need updating …
Updating themes in your WP dashboard is quite simple and easy. You can update your WordPress themes from the “Themes” page, or the “Updates” area.
Updating Your Site’s Theme From The “Themes” Area
You can see which themes need updating by going to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes in your WP dashboard menu …
This opens up the “Themes” page …
WordPress Themes that need updating 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 process described above to update all of your outdated themes, or use the method described below to bulk update multiple themes.
Updating Your Site’s Theme Via The “Updates” Screen
Update your WordPress theme via the “Updates” screen as shown below:
To view all themes installed in 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 will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to update your themes in your dashboard.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)