Even though updating your WordPress site is important for its security and performance, you should know that it can be a difficult task, especially if you don’t have any technical skills or experience. But just updating your site might not be enough to make sure it is successful and reliable. You can get expert advice, ongoing maintenance and optimization, and peace of mind when you hire a professional service. So, even though this article can show you how to update your site like a pro, it’s important to think about the pros and cons of doing it yourself vs. hiring a professional like us.
It’s important to keep your WordPress site up-to-date to keep it safe, fast, and compatible with the latest features and plugins. But many website owners find it hard to keep their site up-to-date, especially if they don’t know much about technology. In this article, we’ll show you step-by-step how to make changes to your WordPress site like a pro.
Backup Your WordPress Site
Before you update your WordPress site, it’s important to make a backup of your site’s files and database so that you don’t lose or mess up any data. There are several backup plugins for WordPress, such as UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, and Jetpack. For extra security, you can use these plugins to back up your site to a place like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Amazon S3.
To make a manual backup of your site, you can use an FTP client like FileZilla to download the site’s files to your local computer. You can also use phpMyAdmin to export your site’s database to a file that you can download or save on your server.
Update Your Plugins and Themes
You should first update your plugins and themes before you update WordPress core. This is because some plugins and themes might not work with the latest version of WordPress. Updating them ahead of time can stop any conflicts or errors from happening.
To update your plugins and themes, go to your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins or Appearance, and then click on the Update button next to each plugin or theme that needs to be updated. You can also update many plugins or themes at once by selecting them all and clicking the Update All button.
Update WordPress Core
Now that you have updated your plugins and themes, you can update the core of WordPress. WordPress usually puts out a few updates a year, and each one fixes bugs, adds security patches, and adds new features.
Go to your WordPress dashboard, click on Dashboard, and then click on the Updates button to update WordPress core. You will see a message letting you know if there is a new version of WordPress. Click the “Update Now” button to begin the process of updating.
If you get an error message like “fatal error” or a blank screen during the update, don’t worry. Most of the time, these errors are caused by a problem with a plugin or theme. You can fix them by turning off the plugin or theme in question or by asking your hosting provider for help.
Test Your Site
It’s important to test your WordPress site carefully after updating it to make sure everything is working right. Check to see if your site’s pages, posts, and plugins are working as they should. Also, use tools like Pingdom or GTmetrix to test your site’s speed and performance. This will help you find any performance problems or bottlenecks.
During the testing phase, if you run into any problems or errors, try to fix them by turning off plugins or themes, clearing your browser’s cache, or asking your hosting provider or developer for help.
Maintain Your Site Regularly
Updating your WordPress site isn’t a one-time job; it’s something you have to do all the time. You should check your plugins, themes, and WordPress core for updates often and install them right away. To make sure your site is safe and reliable, you should also keep an eye on its security and performance, make sure its content and media are optimized, and back it up regularly.
In conclusion, your WordPress site’s security, performance, and compatibility depend on you keeping it up to date. If you follow the steps in this article, you’ll be able to update your site like a pro, avoid any problems or mistakes, and make sure your site is successful and lasts for a long time.