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Should I update my Theme or WordPress first?
If you update WordPress, update your Themes and update plugins as soon as updates become available, update everything in this same order:
1. Update WordPress (a lot of times the update only requires a click or two)
2. Update Themes (ditto on that, usually just a click or two)
4. If there are updates for plugins, update the plugins after Themes have been updated.
Will updating WordPress break my Theme?
No, updating WordPress should never break your Theme, and in most cases it won’t even disrupt your site at all.
Generally, when a new version of WordPress comes out there are tons of plugin updates that also come out.
This process can be pretty disruptive if you forget to update the plugins after updating WordPress itself.
So this means you need to update the Theme, plugins and WordPress itself in that order.
What about child Themes?
In general, if you have a parent Theme for your child Theme, updating your parent won’t affect your child Theme.
The update process will go something like this: update the parent first, then activate the new version of the parent and let it overwrite any old template files.
Once the parent is updated, switch to your child Theme and activate it to overwrite any child Theme files.
If you are on a WordPress site where this process doesn’t work, you will need to update your child Theme after updating the parent first before activating it.
What should I do before updating WordPress?
Make sure you have backed up your website.
Additionally, if you are on a shared server make sure your host is ready to update before performing the manual download of WordPress.
If you are on a managed hosting service, they should be updating the files for you.
If you are not using managed hosting or your managed hosting provider doesn’t handle the WordPress updates, you can use a plugin like WP-Update-Notifier to let you know when new versions of WordPress are available. Ironically, you should know, however, that the WP-Update-Notifier plugin hasn’t been updated in at least the last 3 major releases of WordPress. So proceed with caution.
Make sure your plugins and Themes are compatible with the latest version of WordPress before updating.
If they do not have an official update available, try contacting the author of the plugin or Theme through
What happens if I don’t update my WordPress Theme?
You run the risk of having your website go down due to security issues related to using an outdated Theme.
If you have been hacked or think you have been hacked, an out of date WordPress Theme could be the reason why.
How do I update a WordPress Theme without losing content?
First, make sure you have backed up the site on a separate server or at least your files.
Next, download the new version of your Theme and upload it to the Themes directory.
Activate the new version of your Theme and let WordPress overwrite all of the old Theme files.
Make sure that you have refreshed permalinks before visiting the site.
Finally, go to your WordPress dashboard, click appearance and make sure all of the links are pointing to existing content before you delete the old version of your Theme out of your directory or if you prefer, upload it somewhere for safe keeping.
If I update my plugin, will that update my Theme?
No, not necessarily.
If there are updates to the plugin that also require an update for your Theme, go ahead and update both things at once.
Make sure you have saved any customizations you’ve made to the old version of your Theme or have a backup handy in case anything goes wrong.
How do I update WordPress itself without losing content?
First, make sure you have backed up your website.
Next, download the new version of WordPress to your computer and upload it to your hosting account or shared server.
Activate the new version of WordPress. If you are not on a managed hosting service this means you will need FTP access in order to overwrite old files with new ones.
How long does a WordPress update take?
It can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes for WordPress to update the Theme and plugins.
How long it takes will depend on how much code there is in your existing version of WordPress, how large your website is, the speed of your web host and other factors.
Additionally, if you are using managed hosting or have managed WordPress hosting, your host will take care of doing this for you.
How do I update WordPress Themes automatically?
There are plugins out there to help with this, like Easy Updates Manager .
However, this tool isn’t completely seamless and it doesn’t work in all cases.
If you are on shared hosting, your host will take care of this for you.
If you are not on managed hosting or don’t have your WordPress installation under version control, then consider updating Themes manually.
How long do I have to update my WordPress Theme?
After new releases of WordPress go live, there is usually around 90 days before they stop supporting older versions.
Not that you have to manually update your Theme, but you should consider it if the process is not automatic.
If there aren’t any known issues with a release and your website has been performing well, there’s no reason to rush things unless high priority security updates are involved.
If your site is affected by regressions, you will want to upgrade quicker.
What is the risk of using an outdated WordPress version?
There is a risk of having your website go down due to security issues related to using an outdated WordPress Theme.
If you have been hacked or think you have been hacked, an out of date WordPress Theme could be the reason why.
What happens if I don’t update my website?
If you don’t update your WordPress Theme, there is a risk of not performing as well as it could or coming under high load.
Additionally, if you are running on an insecure version of WordPress, this means that your site won’t perform and can go offline.
Why Is it Important to Update WordPress?
There are security risks, regressions and other issues that can make WordPress slower or stop working.
Updates allow for new features to be added to the CMS as well as fixing bugs related to existing features.
Updating WordPress will make it run faster, update old security vulnerabilities and update outdated components.
This is especially important if you are running an older version of WordPress (4+ years) since the software has changed a lot since then.
You’ll also get access to new features (like custom post types).
What version should I update my WordPress Theme to?
The best answer is it depends on your individual website. If you have a brand new website, it is best to stay up to date with major releases.
On the other hand, if you have a large, high performance website it could be worth updating your WordPress Theme manually to ensure there are no regressions.
What should I do if I have trouble updating WordPress Themes?
If you are having problems with updating your WordPress Theme, if not using managed hosting or VPS, then consider finding a local web developer.
They can help with updating Themes, checking your website for security issues and more.
If you are using managed hosting or VPS then they will take care of this for you.
Let them know if there is an issue though so that they can find out why it is happening and resolve the problem quickly.
Additional Updating WordPress and Themes FAQs.
Here are some frequently asked questions about updating WordPress and Themes.
Do I have to update plugins, Themes and WordPress at the same time?
No. WordPress updates take priority because they update a lot of things in your site’s back-end.
Themes update quickly too but it isn’t necessary to update them right away unless you want to add new features or fix security issues.
Plugins should only be updated when there are updates for them.
What if I update Themes but not plugins? Can this affect my site?
If you update a plugin and there’s a bug or security flaw that should be fixed, it won’t be. This can lead to problems with your site later on, so update both at the same time whenever possible.
How do I update Themes?
Go to Appearance -> Themes in your dashboard. Then update the Theme you want in there.
What if there are updates for my plugins but not Themes or WordPress?
Install the update for your plugin, then update both the Theme and WordPress in the order I said them in this post. If you update WordPress last, it can override changes made by plugins (like permalinks) since it is running first in priority.
What if I update WordPress, update the Theme and update the plugin, but I don’t like the update for my Theme?
Back-up your old version of Theme (if you want to revert after update), update it then see how it works.
If you like that better, delete your old version of the Theme. You can do this with plugins as well, update it then see if you like the update.
If not, update your old one and delete the update.
Do I have to update Themes by downloading them again?
No! All you have to do is go into Appearance -> Themes in your dashboard and update it there. It will update all by itself. No download required.
What if I update plugins, but not the Themes or WordPress?
Your site will still work but update plugins run last in priority and can override changes for Themes and update WordPress.
This is why updating them in the same order I said above. It’s not a guarantee they won’t get overridden, but it helps reduce that risk.
What should you do if there are updates for all three (Themes, update WordPress and update plugins)?
Install updates for all three at the same time. Update WordPress first then update Themes and update plugins last.
This way your changes from update WordPress won’t get overridden by update Themes or update plugin updates.
Making sure you update WordPress first before your Theme or anything else. FAQs summary.
WordPress core updates are necessary to fix security vulnerabilities, but they also often include new features that can improve your site’s SEO or functionality.
Before you update any Themes, make sure that the latest version of WordPress is installed on your website.
When this isn’t done first, there may be compatibility issues with plugins and other aspects of the Theme which could result in undesirable consequences like downtime for your website.
Therefore, you should always update WordPress before your Themes.
However, sometimes the Theme developer will have a setting or function built in to automatically update their product when new versions are available.
If this is the case with your current Theme, then it may not be necessary to do anything more than visit the site and click “Update” on whatever version of WordPress has been released since you last updated.
Keep an eye out for any emails from developers updating their products about major updates too.
Some people subscribe to these email notifications so they don’t miss them!
Finally, if there’s no automatic feature for updates but only manual installation through FTP uploading files (not recommended), make sure both are up-to-date at all times by performing these steps each time a new WordPress version is launched and you install a Theme at the same time.
