WordPress is constantly being developed in recent days, and it is moving towards perfection. It is where the annoying updates will come, and whenever you open the WP dashboard, you can see the installation requirement messages in your plugin, theme or WordPress update. Most of the time, you ignore these kinds of messages and keep doing your work. Your site may perhaps be safe for now, but what about in the upcoming days. That is why your WordPress site safety should be one of the first tasks you have to think about every time. From the below details, you can get complete steps to update your WP, Plugins and Themes.
Updating WordPress to the latest versions:
The automatic method of updating your WordPress is easier, and it is recommended for all users.
- First, you have to log in to the admin area of your WordPress website and go to the dashboard and update pages.
- There, you will see the notice that indicates the latest version of WordPress is available.
- Now, just click on the ‘Update Now’ button to initiate your Update.
- WordPress will now bring the belated version of your software and install it
- At this instant, you will see the update progression on your screen, and during this process, you have to put your site in maintenance mode.
- So now, your site will be visible to the users, but you cannot install themes or plugins while your Update is underway.
Once your Update is completed, you will be redirected to the WordPress welcome screen. Depending on each release, you may see the page amplification like what is new in your WordPress and its features.
Updating WordPress Plugins to the latest version:
- Generally, the WordPress Plugins will come with a built-in update system, and it will automatically verify your updates and shows notifications. When there are updates available for your WordPress plugins, they will illustrate you instantly.
- You can also check your updates manually by visiting the dashboard and reaching the update pages.
- When you perceive the recent updates accessible for your plugins, you will see the notifications on the plugin menu in the WordPress admin bar.
- So now you can install these updates by visiting your Plugin page, and you will see notifications below each of your plugins that have updates available to install.
- Now, just click the ‘Update Now’ link to install each Update.
- If you want to update your website’s bulk WordPress plugins, you may use the quick review to bulk update those plugins.
- To do that, you need to visit the plugins and sink in the Update available link.
- It will show the complete list of plugins and their updated available options. You can choose all of them and select Update from the bulk actions drop-down menu.
Updating WordPress themes to the latest version:
To get rid of problems in your security, compatibility and performance issues related to your outdated theme, you can set up auto-updates. It will help you to check and make updates to your dashboards. Pursue the below steps to set up the auto-updates of your WordPress themes.
- Login to your WordPress dashboard
- Click appearance > themes, and now click on your theme thumbnails active on your site. In your chosen theme model, click enable auto-updates right below the author of your theme.
After completing this process, the auto-update will run twice per day as default. Using the same toggle link, you can also disable auto-updates at any time. It will make you to stay on top of updates and however, the problem with this update method is still overwriting on your old theme files installed in your website. So you will lose any customisations or changes made to your theme. Thus it is better to make updating your WordPress theme manually.
Update your WordPress theme manually:
- If you installed and activated your theme on your site lacking of customisations, then it is easy to update.
- Login to the WordPress dashboard, where you can see the alert bubble displayed in your WordPress Admin menu
- Click dashboard > updates
- Now scroll to the labelled themes section, and if your themes are all with the latest version, then you will get the following messages like themes are all get updated
- If any stationary or lively themes are not at their newest version, prefer the theme you want to update and click the update theme button.
Why do you need to update WordPress, themes, and Plugins?
Many items make these lists, which will probably help you understand why updating matters at all times.
Security:
The WordPress platform faces huge bugs and vulnerabilities which will attack every day, and each one can be less or more dangerous. It is crucial to update your WordPress to avoid leaving any security leaks open and provide hackers with no opportunities for an attack. When you update, several bugs are fixed, and many security holes are patched, which will make it harder for you to break into your site.
Cool new features:
Every WordPress comes with the latest features and changes to your software. For instance, WordPress 5.0 introduced the slab editor, whereas WordPress 5.3 included ease of access and UI improvements. When you are using the older version of your WordPress, it shows many differences from using the latest versions. If you use the WordPress support forums, it shows you are working with the latest version of WordPress.
Bug fixes:
Despite your accurate testing of the major releases, sometimes, WordPress bugs may slip through the cracks. That is why there are timely slight WordPress releases to report that. The most recent WordPress 4.2.3 update fixed twenty bugs from the 4.2 release. Now, if you ask for facilitate from the WordPress Support Forums, the first suggestion you will get is to update your WordPress since that may fix the issues.
Speed:
The WordPress developers are constantly trying to make your things faster, and each new release comes with numerous performing improvements that make your WordPress run efficient and faster. For instance, WordPress 4.2 improved JS performance for your navigation menus and WordPress 4.1 improved complex queries, which are helpful to perform in your sites using those queries.
The bottom line:
Finally, you will get the same idea to update your WP, Plugins and Themes from the details mentioned above. As a result regularly updating your theme will improve the compatibility, functionality and security of your WordPress website.