If you are new to WordPress, make sure to read our overview of WordPress themes. It explains what themes are and how themes can save web business owners time and money.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to upgrade your WordPress theme in the dashboard.
Updating A WordPress Theme – Best Practices
We recommend going through the handy checklist below before going through the upgrade process.
1. Back Up Your Website
Backing up your files and data before making any changes to your site is essential. This way, if things don’t go as planned, you can always restore.
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
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 new features, improvements, bug fixes or important changes in the new theme version.
If the theme changes seem irrelevant or unimportant, you can skip the update. Otherwise, you should 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 an installed theme, track bugs and verify that all plugins are working fine with the new theme before applying it to 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 main website.
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 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 provide forums for premium WordPress themes, and even for some free plugins).
5. Use Child Themes For Heavily Customized Themes
If you have made extensive changes to your existing WordPress 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”, your 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 to 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 easy. The part that takes the most time and effort to complete is the preparation involved prior to upgrading.
Many people don’t upgrade their WordPress themes regularly, while others upgrade without going through 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 properties.
Upgrading Your Themes – Tutorial
Updating your WP themes from your dashboard is simple.
Log into your WordPress administration area …
Depending on what theme(s) are installed on your site, you may receive occasional alerts in your WordPress Dashboard that new theme versions are available and require updating …
Updating a theme in the dashboard is a simple process. You can update your site’s theme via the “Themes” feature, or the “Updates” screen.
Updating Your Site Themes Via The “Themes” Page
To see which themes require updating, go to your Themes page.
Choose Appearance > Themes from your WP dashboard menu …
This brings you to the “Themes” page …
WordPress Themes with new versions display an “Update Available” message over the theme’s thumbnail image …
Locate the theme you want to update and click on the “Update Available” notice.
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 to update all of your out-of-date themes, or use the method below to upgrade multiple themes at once.
Updating Your Site’s Theme Using The “Updates” Section
Update your WordPress theme from the “Updates” section as shown below:
To view all themes in your website that require updating, click on Dashboard > Updates …
This opens 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 upgrade process …
WordPress will automatically update all of your selected themes …
Congratulations! Now you know how to upgrade your WordPress theme from the WP dashboard.
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