I get a reasonable number of support requests when a theme update is needed. For my themes I highly recommend a plugin called Envato Market. This plugin has been completely revamped in 2018 and it works really well now. So here’s how to update the theme in small and easy steps:
- Install and activate this plugin https://envato.com/market-plugin/
- Follow the steps on that page to complete the plugin setup
- Then you should see that my theme needs to be updated – click on the update theme
- After the theme is updated go to Appearance>Install/Update plugins and select the update option
PS: If you are unsure about if any content is lost during the update process please check this article https://support.pirenko.com/ticket/3616/. Please notice that nothing is lost during the update process.
If you don’t want to install that plugin, then you need update the theme “manually”. This means that they need to do it via FTP or the WordPress Admin Area. Today we are going to focus on the Admin Area method…
The problem (until now!) was that WordPress does not allow you to update a theme in the same way that you used when you install it. Why? If you upload the theme update like a new theme upload, you will get an error: “destination already exists”. The same thing happens if you try to update a plugin this way.
The good news is that the plugin Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades works around this and you will be able to update a theme or plugin using the upload method. How cool is this?
Oh, and by the way, during the update process, a backup copy of the old theme or plugin is created. So, if you have any trouble during the update process you can always revert to the old version.
