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How to Update and Auto-Update Themes in WordPress

You can update WordPress directly through the WordPress admin; however, using the WordPress Management interface allows you to perform smart updates. Smart updates clone your WordPress website, update the theme, then run a variety of tests to confirm the update will not break your live WordPress site before the system proceeds to update it.

  1. Log in to cPanel and search for WordPress Management:

  2. Click on WordPress Management to open the dashboard:

    Searching for WordPress Management in cPanel

  3. Find your WordPress site in the list you wish to update themes for

  4. You can either click Install theme updates or navigate to the themes tab then click Update for the theme you wish to update

    Install theme updates Update theme

  5. On the next page you will be presented with a summary of themes that can be updated.

    Theme update summary

  6. Review the summary and click Run Smart Update Tests button to proceed with the updates.

  7. The system will now clone your WordPress website, update the themes, and run tests to ensure the updates won’t break your site. You will be provided with a report and the ability to access the cloned WordPress website.

    Smart update report Smart update site access

  8. Review the report and decide whether to proceed with the updates. If you wish to proceed, click the Apply Updates button.

You can configure themes to automatically update when new versions are available. This helps keep your site secure and up-to-date without manual intervention.

  1. Log in to cPanel and search for WordPress Management:

  2. Click on WordPress Management to open the dashboard:

    Searching for WordPress Management in cPanel

  3. Find your WordPress site in the list you wish to configure autoupdates for

  4. Navigate to the Themes tab

    Themes tab

  5. Find the theme you want to configure for autoupdates

  6. Toggle the Auto-update switch to On for the theme or you can enable autoupdates for all themes at once

    Enable theme updates

  7. Once you toggle the switch, the changes will be saved automatically

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