How to Update WordPress Theme? (2 Easy Methods Explained)

Maintaining a WordPress website entails regular updates, including those of your theme. An updated theme can breathe new life into your site, offering fresh designs and improved functionality. On the flip side, an outdated theme can inflict performance, security, and compatibility issues.

Updating a WordPress theme can be a straightforward process if you follow the right steps. There are a few different ways to go about it.

In this blog, I’ll tell you all about how the WordPress experts go about updating the theme and the benefits it presents. Let’s begin.

Why Update the WordPress Theme?

By keeping your WordPress theme updated, you can ensure a range of benefits:

• Vulnerability Patches: Regular updates often include security patches that address known vulnerabilities in the theme’s code.
• Protection Against Threats: By keeping your theme up-to-date, you can significantly reduce the risk of hacking attempts, malware infections, and other security breaches.
• Optimized Code: Theme updates often introduce performance improvements. Like optimized code, faster loading times, and better compatibility with modern web browsers.
• Enhanced User Experience: A faster and more responsive website can lead to increased user engagement and satisfaction.
• WordPress Core Updates: Themes need to be compatible with the latest version of WordPress to ensure smooth functionality and avoid conflicts.
• Plugin Compatibility: Regular updates help maintain compatibility with other plugins and tools used on your website.
• New Features: Theme updates often introduce new features or enhancements that can improve the overall functionality and usability of your website.
• Design Improvements: Updated themes may include modern design trends, improved layouts, and enhanced visual appeal.
• Search Engine Optimization: Some theme updates may include SEO improvements. Like better meta tag management, improved mobile responsiveness, and faster load times.
• Better Visibility: A well-optimized website can rank higher in search engine results, leading to increased traffic and visibility.

Keeping the WordPress theme updated will ensure your website remains relevant, secure, and provides a positive user experience. That’s why updates are among the top priorities of the best WordPress site maintenance plans.

What to Do Before Updating the WordPress Theme?

Before you go about updating the theme, there are a few key prerequisites you need to consider. It will help minimize the risk of issues and ensure a smooth update.

1. Backup Your Website

A full website backup is essential to protect your data and allow you to revert to a previous state if something goes wrong during the update process. Consider using a reliable backup plugin or manual methods to create a complete backup of your website, including files, database, and theme customizations.

2. Make Sure the Theme Customization Are in a Child Theme

If you’ve made any customizations to your WordPress theme, it’s highly recommended to have them implemented in a child theme. Create a child theme to customize your theme without directly modifying the parent theme’s files. This way, when you update the parent theme, your customizations will remain intact.

With these two undertakings, you can significantly reduce the risk of data loss or functional issues during the theme update process.

How to Update WordPress Theme Via Dashboard?

The simplest way to go about the theme update is through the dashboard. There are two distinct approaches with this dashboard. One, you can just visit the Updates section and scroll down to “Themes”.

If any of your active or inactive themes is not up-to-date, you’ll see an option to update the theme. Go ahead with it; the theme will be updated.

As for the dashboard method, there is another way. Here’s how:

Step 1: Log into your WordPress admin dashboard.

Step 2: Click on the “Appearance” menu in the left sidebar and select “Themes”

Your currently active theme will be displayed prominently.

Step 3: Click on the “Update now” option visible just above the theme.

The update process should be relatively quick. Once complete, you’ll see a success message.

How to Update WordPress Themes Via FTP?

While updating themes directly through the dashboard is often the preferred method, sometimes using an FTP might be the better option. FTP, as you may understand, lets you transfer the files from the local computer to your WordPress hosting account.

First and foremost, we assume you have already taken a site backup. If not, please go ahead and do so. Thereafter, we’ll cover the following process.

Step 1: On the WordPress, navigate to “Themes” under the “Appearance” section.

Step 2: Now, click on “Add New Theme”, which will take you to the official repository (or you can visit the theme’s official website, in case of a third-party theme).

Step 3: After choosing a theme, click on “Download” to download its .zip file.

Step 4: On your computer, locate the .zip file and extract the theme. Now, you have both the old and the new theme version files. 

Now comes the critical part.

If you are technically inclined, you will know what customizations you have done to the old theme.

Step 5: In that case, copy the custom code snippets from the old theme file and paste them in the new ones.

Step 6: Or, you can use a tool like WinMerge (for Windows) or KDiff3 (for macOS) to compare and find the custom code snippets.

Post-comparison, see which files are missing from the new file; take them from the old file and paste them into the new one.

Step 7: Save the file and you will have an updated version of your WordPress theme.

Step 8: Now, navigate to the wp-content folder, available in your WordPress file directory.

Step 9: Within the “wp-content” folder, open the “themes” folder and upload the new theme directory.

Step 10: Now, go back to the WordPress dashboard and navigate to “Themes” in the “Appearance” section.

Step 11: You will see two themes: one with your theme’s name and the other with “_old” added to the name. Make sure to select and activate the new one.

Step 12: Finally, you will be asked to overwrite the theme. Then click “Replace current with uploaded”. That will activate the updated theme on your WordPress website.

Now, you can go ahead and check the website to see if anything is out of order.

You can, of course, leave all this hassle and hire our professional WordPress development company. We’ll make sure your website is always maintained and updated for the best appearance and functionalities.

FAQs on Updating a WordPress Theme

To Summarize

Updating your WordPress theme is a crucial step in maintaining a modern, secure, and user-friendly website. An updated theme means improved performance, enhanced search visibility, and a better overall user experience.

Remember to back up your website before making any changes, use a child theme for customizations, and test your website thoroughly after the update.

If you need help with updating the theme or any other aspect of the website, connect with our WordPress professionals today!