How to Update WordPress: A Beginner’s Guide
If you have a blog or a website, you know how vital a CMS is to your business, right? So knowing how to update WordPress safely is part of managing your platform.
This ensures that you can safely continue to enjoy all the resources it offers to develop more complete websites. You are thus favoring the growth and scalability of your business.
The same ends then, applying to updates to the plugins provided by it. After all, these extension modules complement the creation of professional websites by bringing new functionality to them.
Many companies, website creation agencies work with already optimized platforms. That is, installing WordPress for your customers and facilitating the process of implementing this system.
However, the update is up to its managers, and it is there that all knowledge on this subject becomes necessary. Keep reading and learn more!
How to Update WordPress Safely
Did you know that creating websites with WordPress is common because it is the most used CMS worldwide?
Therefore, acquiring a website on which it is already significantly installed facilitates the online creation/placement of a brand. With it, you experience several incredible benefits.
What happens for several reasons, one of the main ones being the possibility of installing complementary plugins (extension modules).
But, all of these interests come with a catch. Most hacker attacks and invasions occur on this type of platform, as it is considered valuable.
This does not make the insecure platform, far from it, as often WordPress releases updates that improve their safety and everything.
Only this process needs to be done correctly. Thereby ensuring that possible flaws are corrected, performance is enhanced, and new features are installed.
So, so that you know how to carry out this whole process, we will show you through the following step by step.
Automatically Updating
So, let’s say that you opted to create websites with WordPress and have been using it for some time. Now you need an update.
One way to do this is automatic what is possible since version 3.7, as a way to optimize such processes, making them practical and straightforward.
It is remembered that they could be divided into a few types. So, it’s up to you to decide which ones should or shouldn’t be automatic, for example, theme, core, plugins, and translation files.
The core mentioned above is the one responsible for testing new features on the platform that improves performance.
Thus, by increasing protection and correcting errors in it.
There are even ways to activate automatic updates, later the creation of WordPress sites. But, the most recommended is that someone does this with technical knowledge.
So now, let’s learn how to do automatic updates.
Login
WordPress login screen
In the administrator panel, access your “admin” account to enter the desired files for automatic updates.
The first step on how to update WordPress is simple.
Upgrade Option
After accessing your account, if any automatic updates are pending, they will appear on the main panel page.
Clicking on it will take you to the updates page. But, if that doesn’t happen, look for this option in the function bar on the left side, inside the “Panel” option.
Right next to “Updates,” you can already see the pending quantity of these, so access the functionality.
If your WordPress needs updating, it will be indicated, and you need to follow the instructions recommended on the page; it is straightforward.
Updating
After clicking “Update Now,” you will see that the CMS will begin downloading the files for update and installation.
The page will show the whole process in real-time. Soon, when it ends, the platform will be directed to a welcome page explaining the changes that have occurred.
Updating Manually
Now that you know how to update WordPress for your website/blog automatically, we will explain how this process is done manually.
It is worth mentioning that, for this, it will be necessary to use an FTP program. That is File Transfer Protocol, which connects computers to a server.
They are thus ensuring the transfer of the necessary files. Some of the free options of these programs are gFTP, SmartFTP, FireFTP, and FileZilla.
However, you still need information that can be obtained from your website hosting company.
Such as username, password, host, hostname, and FTP port. After that, follow the steps that we will show below.
Download WordPress
The downloaded file will need to be extracted, which requires a RaR or zip tool. There are several free options of these, choose one.
Inside, you will see individual files and three more folders called “wp-admin,” “wp-content,” and “wp-includes.”
Upgrading
The second step of the manual update is to access the root directory through the FTP program, using the information mentioned above.
This way, you will access the software and find the WordPress root directory option.
First of all, within the program, delete the following current folders within your server “wp-admin” and “wp-includes.”
Please pay close attention to this moment, as the wp-content folder should not be changed in any way since they contain its current content already on the site.
As well, this is where some information about your theme and plugins are present. Therefore, deleting it is the same as deleting such files and data.
After deleting the indicated folders, you must upload your new versions, stored on your computer.
As for the individual files in it, select the next to upload as well.
If a confirmation box appears, click on “Overwrite.” Finally, go to your website’s control panel to check if everything went well.
Still Confused?
Access your CMS administrator panel, and if any automatic updates are pending, they will appear on the panel’s main page. Clicking on it will take you to the updates page. If it does not, look for the option on the features bar on the left side; inside the “Panel” menu next to “Updates,” you will find the outstanding amount of these, then go functionality.
Following the steps correctly, it is difficult for this to occur. But it is recommended to make a backup of the site files for security. Thus, in the event of an error, it is possible to restore the previous version.
Yes, the updates are to correct problems in previous versions. So the recommended thing is that both the CMS are updated.
Yes, you will need to enable the option by opening the wp-config.php file in the root folder. Then, adding a line of code, all through an FTP program.
Please pay close attention to this moment, as the wp-content folder should not be changed in any way since they contain its current content already on the site.
All in All…
Through this content, it is possible to update WordPress in a safe way to keep the protection of the data and files of the website and its performance and functionalities.
The post How to Update WordPress: A Beginner’s Guide is republished from Dopinger Blog
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