Just like any software, a good WordPress themes also release updates regularly. A theme update is release of new theme zip provided by the theme author with fixes, improvements or new features.
If you’re using the theme from WordPress.org, it’ll be available in the admin dashboard directly.
Most of the theme author websites and marketplaces such as WooCommerce Marketplace/ThemeForest should provide automatic update through WordPress dashboard. Otherwise, you might need to download the theme zip from your account in their platform and upload and update it manually.
Why Should You Update Themes Regularly?
You need to update theme regularly to make sure design of your website doesn’t broken and secure.
The key reasons to theme updates:
- Security: Security is the most important reason to update the theme. There are always a chance of having securities vulnerabilities in any products which the developers might find out, resolve them and release an update. So, in such case, you need to update the theme as soon as possible to be protected from potential attacks.
- Bug Fixes: Updates can resolve issues that might cause site crash, design breakdown or unexpected behaviors.
- Enhancements: With constant changes in technology and updates on WordPress Core itself, a theme needs to get up-to-date regularly for better performance and smooth user experiences. A good theme authors are always look for areas for improvements which you can get benefited from.
- New Features: Themes update can provide new features that could be useful for your existing website. Moreover, a theme might provide new features targeting various kind of websites. For example, they might release a new demo, patterns, templates regularly. It could be great if you’re developing a new websites regularly, you might find ready-made templates that you could use.
Things to Do Before Updating Theme
- Read Changelog: It is good practice to read the changelog before updating the theme to find out what you’ll get. You can check the changes and utilize them if necessary. It is always good to be aware of the products you’re using.
- Backup: Updating will replace your old version of the theme with the new one. So, it is recommended to keep backup of your website before updating the theme to avoid any issues or data loss in case of any issues.
- Testing in Staging: Before updating the theme on your live website, you can test the update in the staging site. This allows you to see it causes any issues before making it live. If you find any issues, you can contact the theme authors reporting it if it needs their attention. Many hosting providers offer staging site features to setup testing environment.
How to Update WordPress Theme
There are various ways to update a theme depending on the platform you’re using it from or the situation you’re in.
Method 1: Automatic Update
This is the easiest and fasted way to perform theme update. This methods works for WordPress.org themes. Generally, the theme update option is available in the WordPress Dashboard:
- Go to Appearance > Themes in WordPress Dashboard.
- If there is update available, a notice appears on top of the theme box like: New version available. Update now. You can click over the box (Theme Details) to see the current theme version.
- Click the Update now link.
- Wait till the notice message changes to Updated.
- You can again click over the box to see new theme version.
Method 2: Manual Update
In some cases, the theme update might not directly available through WordPress Dashboard. Some of the premium theme provider might require you to download and upload the zip manually. If you find new theme update available in your marketplace account, you can install it by following the steps below:
- Download the new zip available from your marketplace account.
- Go to Appearance > Themes in WordPress Dashboard.
- Click Add New Theme button on the themes page.
- Click Upload Theme button.
- From the file upload box, choose the zip file you downloaded.
- Click the Install Now button.
- In the installation page, click the Replace active with uploaded button.
- Click Go to Themes page link to see the uploaded theme.
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