Updating a theme

Updates are free for every buyer. Each theme’s changelog lists what changed in every version. Update the companion plugin together with the theme: a new theme version may need the new plugin.

Before you update

• Back up your site: its files and its database. Most hosts have a backup tool; a backup plugin works too. Check that you can restore it.
• Read the theme’s changelog for removed or changed settings.
• On a busy site, try the update on a staging copy first, if your host offers one.

Update with the Envato Market plugin

The free Envato Market plugin installs updates for everything you bought on ThemeForest, from your WordPress admin.

1. Download the plugin from Envato Market and install it: Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin.
2. Create a personal token at build.envato.com with the permissions the plugin’s page lists, and paste it in Envato Market in your admin.
3. When an update is out, it shows in Envato Market and in Dashboard > Updates. Select Update.

Update by hand

1. Download the new version from your ThemeForest Downloads: Download > Installable WordPress file only.
2. Go to Appearance > Themes > Add New Theme > Upload Theme, choose the zip file and select Install Now.
3. WordPress sees that the theme is already installed. Select Replace active with uploaded.
4. Update the companion plugin the same way if the changelog asks for it: Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin, then Replace current with uploaded. Its zip file is in the theme’s full download (All files & documentation).

What an update keeps

Your posts, pages, menus, widgets and Customizer settings are kept: they live in the database, not in the theme. Changes made to the theme’s own files are lost, because an update replaces those files.

Keep your changes with a child theme

A child theme holds your code changes (templates, functions, styles) and loads the theme underneath, so updates to the theme never touch them.

• Install and activate the child theme before you customize the site: the Customizer keeps its settings per theme, so a child theme activated later starts without the parent’s Customizer settings.
• If the theme’s full download includes a child theme, install it like the theme itself. If not, see Child themes in the WordPress developer documentation.
• For small style changes, Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS is enough: it is kept across updates too.

Help with code changes in a child theme is not part of support: see Support.