How to Update WordPress Core, Themes, and Plugins

Introduction

Keeping WordPress, themes, and plugins updated is crucial for security, performance, and compatibility. This guide explains how to safely update your WordPress site components.

Why Updates Are Important

• Security: Patches vulnerabilities and protects against exploits
• Performance: Improves speed and efficiency
• Features: Adds new functionality and improvements
• Compatibility: Ensures components work together properly

Before You Update: Important Precautions

1. Create a Complete Backup

Always backup your site before updating:

• Use a backup plugin (UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy)
• Or use your WordPress hosting control panel's backup feature
• Or create a manual backup via cPanel

2. Check Compatibility

• Read update changelogs
• Check theme/plugin compatibility with the new WordPress version
• Test updates on a staging site if possible

3. Update During Low-Traffic Hours

Perform updates when your site has minimal visitors to reduce impact if issues occur.

Updating WordPress Core

Method 1: Automatic Updates (Easiest)

WordPress automatically handles minor security updates. For major updates:

1. Log into WordPress admin (wp-admin)
2. If an update is available, you'll see a notification at the top
3. Navigate to Dashboard > Updates
4. Click "Update Now"
5. Wait for the update to complete (don't close your browser)

Method 2: Via Your Control Panel

1. Log into your control panel
2. Navigate to your WordPress installation
3. Click "Update" if available
4. Confirm the update

Method 3: Manual Update (Advanced)

1. Download the latest WordPress from wordpress.org
2. Backup your site completely
3. Delete wp-includes and wp-admin directories
4. Upload new files from the ZIP (don't overwrite wp-content or wp-config.php)
5. Visit yourdomain.com/wp-admin to trigger database updates

Updating Plugins

Automatic Updates

1. Go to Dashboard > Updates
2. Review available plugin updates
3. Select plugins to update or click "Select All"
4. Click "Update Plugins"

Individual Plugin Updates

1. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
2. Find plugins with "update available" notifications
3. Click "update now" below the plugin name

Enable Automatic Updates for Plugins

1. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
2. Click "Enable auto-updates" for individual plugins
3. Or add this to wp-config.php: define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true );

Updating Themes

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to Dashboard > Updates
2. Scroll to "Themes" section
3. Select themes to update
4. Click "Update Themes"

Important Note for Custom Themes

Warning: If you've customized your theme files directly, updates will overwrite your changes. Instead:

• Use a child theme for customizations
• Or use the WordPress Customizer
• Or a custom CSS plugin

Update Best Practices

Recommended Update Order

1. Backup your entire site
2. Update plugins first
3. Update themes second
4. Update WordPress core last

After Updating

1. Test your site thoroughly:
   • Visit frontend pages
   • Check forms and functionality
   • Test admin panel
   • Review for errors or broken features
2. Clear all caches (site cache, browser cache, CDN cache)
3. Check for PHP errors in cPanel error logs if something breaks

Troubleshooting Update Issues

White Screen of Death

1. Enable WordPress debug mode in wp-config.php
2. Check error logs in cPanel
3. Restore from backup if necessary
4. Deactivate plugins via database or FTP if needed

Update Failed or Stuck

1. Check file permissions (644 for files, 755 for folders)
2. Increase PHP memory limit in wp-config.php: define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
3. Delete the .maintenance file if site is stuck in maintenance mode

Site Broken After Update

1. Restore from your pre-update backup
2. Identify the problematic component
3. Contact the plugin/theme developer for support
4. Look for alternative plugins/themes if necessary

Enabling Automatic Background Updates

Add to wp-config.php for automatic updates:

// Enable all automatic updates
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true );
add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_true' );
add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_true' );

Note: Only enable automatic updates if you have reliable backups and staging environment for testing.