Updating WordPress Theme Including Troubleshooting Problems
Updating WordPress Theme: with FTP and troubleshooting the problems, is what we are doing for day 43 of our blog challenge. This is for people using a WordPress premium theme, or for those updating their WordPress premium theme, with an FTP program like filezilla, or any other of the ftp programs. For updating, you don’t need to delete anything first, you load straight over the top. It’s a good idea to backup your blog, at your cp panel before updating or uploading new themes. It’s also sensible to deactivate your plugins.
When you update your Premium WordPress Themes, often things can go a little haywire. I have recently been having to do this job, and have run across a host of problems, so in this post I’ll walk you through them, just in case your looking for a quick troubleshooting guide for any of these problems.
Uploading a Premium Theme to WordPress or an Update that won’t work
Welcome to the world of premium themes and the myriad of problems that can occur, when your first making the switch, from a small normal WordPress theme, to a premium theme. First up, when you purchase your first premium WordPress theme, and try and upload it through the theme upload, you may find that the theme will not upload. You will get an error message of some effect. The reason for this, is probably that, your host has an upload file size limit, to php files uploaded in this manner. Often you’ll find Premium WordPress Themes are way larger than normal free WordPress Themes. The reason is that, they often include a ton more, customizations and also extensive help and FAQ guides. If this happens to you, don’t worry, there is another method for uploading your new premium WordPress theme. Updating WordPress Theme Premium, will be the same.
FTP Programs for Manual Theme Updates and Theme Uploads
FTP stands for file transfer program, and what it is, is a program that you download onto your own computer, which then enables you to manage your WordPress files, and your home or work computer files together. It’s safer to use an ftp program than directly mess with your files in your file manager of your hosting account.
In short, you go to your cp panel in your WordPress Hosting Account. Go to your file section, and look for the ftp accounts files. Click on ftp and you will see, your hosts offer you, to set up a ftp account and will give you the settings. They will also provide you with the links to ftp programs like filezilla for PC, or cyber duck for mac. The settings you will need will be, and again your hosts will provide all of that info for you,
- host number
- your account name (that’s your login name)
- your password, that you log into your cp panel with
- and the port number, generally 21
Troubleshooting FTP Problems
There are a number of problems you can have when your using the ftp programs I found. Firstly I advise you to use internet explorer when you download and save the settings from your host. The reason is that I used Mozilla fox, as mainly always, and found that I couldn’t easily find the settings once I’d downloaded them and being asked to use them. With internet explorer, it worked really easily. I spent a couple of hours trying to make it work with Firefox.
How to use FTP
- Download the ftp program first and save it to your desktop so you can easily find it. When it says to launch straight away, that’s fine to.
- Next download the set-up settings from your ftp panel in your ftp file section from your host account. This is where I found it only worked with internet explorer. So if you are working in Firefox, close that, go to internet explorer, log into your hosting account, go to ftp section and then download the settings for ftp.
- It will ask you if you want to save or run, this is when your downloading the settings for your ftp, choose to save, and agree to save where internet explorer recommends.
- Once that’s finished open your filezilla ftp program. Choose site-manager from the top bar, far left. Then choose import, and your settings, will be automatically imported for you.
- Press the site-manager button again and choose connect, the ftp will now connect with your computer that your working on now, and your hosting account. You’ll see your computer files on the left and your host on the right. If no files go into the right hand side and you get a red message at the top, it hasn’t worked. If that’s the case, send a message to your hosts, telling them the settings you used. They may tell you to change the port number or the host account number. Make sure first that you used the right password. It’s the password that you use to log into your host account and the username that you log into your host account.
- You can try and add the settings into the top bar manually, instead of the download settings method.
I had problems the second time I used the ftp filezilla program, and it was the host account number settings, which they had to give me manually to add to it.
The first time I had problems trying to get the host settings into the ftp from Firefox, so use Internet Explorer.
Updating WordPress Theme with FTP or Manually Uploading Premium Theme with FTP
Providing your FTP is up and running, the next part isn’t really very difficult. The only thing I suggest here is if, your theme hasn’t uploaded properly, you delete it from your host side and do it again. This happened to me before. I got an error message that something was wrong with my framework php, and my whole site had disappeared. I deleted the theme name, from the ftp program, and from the computer side of the program. I then went to where I had downloaded my theme update, unzipped the file again, copied it to my desktop and then made sure the file was open and extracted. It was so I again opened my ftp, checked the file for my theme was in the same place under desktop, as it was when I checked it on my desk top.
Down loading WordPress theme to your computer
From where you bought your theme, you are given a download link.
Download your theme and save it to your desktop, so it’s easy to find.
Go to your desktop and you’ll find your theme. It will be zipped. Double click to unzip, then press extract files. Your zip package is now open. When you upload your theme to your ftp, you do not use the zipfile name part of the theme. You have to use the part of your theme file that has, the name of your theme, and when you double click to open that file, inside, it will have all the theme files. That is the file that you will be adding to your host account from your computer through the ftp client.
download WordPress theme
Downloaded zip file of theme in the download manager.
alyeska theme zipped on desktop
Drag your downloaded WordPress theme file to your desktop. For updating WordPress theme, the same, drag your downloaded zip file onto your desktop. Notice the zipper is up. That means the file is zipped and if you put it into your ftp like that now, zipped, it wouldn’t work. We have to open the file, (unzip it) then extract the files out of it.
Double click on the zip file and then it open up to show what’s inside that file folder, see below
open zip file
Now you’ll see seven items. The first 5 came with the theme, they do not go into the ftp or your hosting account. Those files are still important, to keep on your computer. There is the archives, not so much, licensing, is your license, psd, is the picture files that were made for the theme in Photoshop, that you can reproduce in Photoshop also, eg: the Alyeska theme heading, if you wanted to use the same text exactly, the sample data is if you wanted to copy the exact settings of the theme, how the maker previews it, when he’s selling it, (not so much fun) and the documentation. It’s the important file. Double click on it, open it up and you’ll have all the instructions that come with putting the entire theme together. Will show you how to do everything, and if there is a child theme included like mine, will show you how to use that. Make sure to bookmark that documentation file, as the browser will open it, so if you want to find it easily again, for when your on-line.
Open the second zipped folder
This is windows vista and as you can see, the Alyeska theme files, are still zipped. I’m pretty sure, if your using windows 7, when you open the first zipped file, the Alyeska file and child theme are already unzipped. Any way, double click the Alyeska file to unzip it .
un-zip file again
Theme Files
You now have one folder in front of you. This is your theme folder. It has been unzipped, and if you double click on it, you will see all the theme files.
WordPress Theme Files Opened
theme file opened
These are the theme files, inside your one theme file.
Close the file going back to the view, where you have the one theme file, called the name of your theme. That is the file that you will be using to upload into your ftp program and then onto your hosting account.
Drag your theme file back to your desktop so it’s easy to find (note: that is from your file manager)
Open your filezilla/ Ftp program
- You may have to reconnect to your server again. Just choose abort and open in the same window.
- Once connected on your computer side find your desktop and your theme file in the case here it was Alyeska.
- On the host side find your public html file. Click that.
- Click - wp content - then blog - then theme
- Drag your WordPress theme file from your computer side to the theme file on the host side. You then will have to wait for all the files to download.
Did it work?
Go to your WordPress admin panel. Open your Appearance file and then go to themes. Your new uploaded WordPress theme should be there waiting for you to activate it. The same if you were updating WordPress theme. It will be there with the new updated version number next to it. For updates you don’t need to delete anything, the new updated theme files just update themselves over the top of the old ones. If it didn’t work. Go back to Ftp, delete the theme file from the host side and try again. There may have been a drop out while uploading or something of the sort.
Blog Challenge Blogging While Angels Sleep Day 43
If you are taking part in our 90 posts in 90 days (about) challenge. Why not buy a new premium wordpress theme. They allow you so many customizations, you can really make your blog look like your very own in any way that you want it too. For between $45.00 and $100 they are well worth the investment.
Summary
Updating WordPress theme, or uploading a premium WordPress theme through ftp, is not as tricky as it sounds. Make sure to delete and try again if there is a problem. Take note of passwords and where your files are and you shouldn’t have any problems.
If you need any help just leave a message or send me an email. My contact details are at the top on the nav bar. If you know someone who might need the help of this site, please share our posts with them on Facebook, or Twitter. If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to our updates by email.
As always thanks for reading.
by Sharon Thoms
