How to update a theme?

hwaliany · December 18, 2010, 11:58am

Hi All,

If an author updates a theme, what’s the best way to update the theme to it’s latest version?

Sorry for asking such a silly question, I’m new to Wordpress.

taha · December 18, 2010, 12:00pm

Mostly, just replace the old files with the new ones!

hwaliany · December 18, 2010, 12:04pm

Hi Wizy, thanks for your quick response. How exactly does one do this? Again, apologies for such a silly question.

hwaliany · December 18, 2010, 12:07pm

Basically, what would be the step-by-step process to do something like this.

taha · December 18, 2010, 12:10pm

If the author provides a .zip file for the theme (NB: not the .zip file you download from themeforest), extract that file and replace the theme’s files on your server with the ones you extracted.

Best thing is to contact the theme’s author, he knows his files and he will be able to help you more than anyone else

hwaliany · December 18, 2010, 12:14pm

Cheers!

ThemeProvince · December 19, 2010, 2:23am

Most themes you can just upload the new folder to your wp-content folder. Then just activate that new version on the Themes page.

dandelionfresh · September 13, 2012, 1:44am

Hi everyone, I am having trouble updating my theme. Here is what I have done- where have I gone wrong?

Downloaded the latest version of my theme
Opened the zip file on my computer
Uploaded the zip file on the “upload theme” page
The upload failed because “the destination folder already exists”

Any tips help! Thanks, Natalie

shanerein · July 26, 2013, 10:47pm

rename old theme folder through ftp and then re-install new theme.

tried and tested.

noaneo · August 27, 2013, 5:19pm

hello,
I just bought the backstreet theme, I would like to know the update will be free theme?
do not pay for each update?
thank you

FinalDestiny · August 27, 2013, 5:40pm

All the updates from here are fre

noaneo · August 27, 2013, 5:42pm

ouf !!! Thank You
I asked myself as I see the “Purchase” button

t-cal · August 27, 2013, 6:40pm

noaneo said
ouf !!! Thank You
I asked myself as I see the “Purchase” button

You simply need to re-download the item via your Downloads page, and that will be the most recent and up to date version of the files. As FinalDestiny mentioned, no added costs involved.

noaneo · August 28, 2013, 7:39am

Hello,
yes I understand, but seeing “Purchase” button can be confusing.

Thank you

web4 · September 14, 2013, 10:54pm

For installing WordPress Theme Updates, there’s also a plugin by Envato available, which makes the updating much easier. Worked for me!

See: http://notes.envato.com/general/envato-wordpress-toolkit/

Download the plugin “envato-wordpress-toolkit” from GitHub (Download ZIP, at right-side) and follow the steps in the readme.txt file, under:

Installation

Source: Haktoria

pomeloyangon · April 24, 2015, 2:19am

Sorry i have installed the whole wordpress envato kit and shows me an option to update all the other themes except air slice. I dont know how to rename via FTP since i have only done this by uploading zip files into wordpress. Please send me exact information on how to update it.
Thank you

lauren · July 10, 2015, 6:46pm

How do you access the theme ftp file and change it?

jonathan01 · July 10, 2015, 6:51pm

CuttlefishMarketing said
How do you access the theme ftp file and change it?

The theme doesn’t have FTP - your server does. You would use an FTP client and enter your web server credentials, this will then log you in to your server and you can see all your files etc. If you have never done this before, I recommend hiring a professional.

fxnewsman · January 3, 2018, 2:02pm

Maybe a silly question to this topic but if I update my theme will all my settings be lost like font colours and the general set up ?

baileyherbert · January 3, 2018, 5:58pm

No - those are saved to the database, not the filesystem, so they shouldn’t be reset. Always a good idea to make a site backup before updating however.