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Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades

By Chris Jean

Description

WordPress has a built-in feature to install themes and plugins by supplying a zip file. Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade a theme or plugin using the same process. Instead, WordPress will say “destination already exists” when trying to upgrade using a zip file and will fail to upgrade the theme or plugin.

Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades fixes this limitation in WordPress by automatically upgrading the theme or plugin if it already exists.

While upgrading, a backup copy of the old theme or plugin is first created. This allows you to install the old version in case of problems with the new version.

Attention: Version 2.0.0 changed the functionality of the plugin. You are no longer required to select “Yes” from a drop down before the theme or plugin can be upgraded. The need for an upgrade is now detected automatically. So, if you are used to the old functionality of the plugin, do not be concerned about the absence of upgrade details on the theme and plugin upload pages. Simply upload the theme or plugin as if you were installing it, and the plugin will automatically handle upgrading as needed.

Installation

  1. Download and unzip the latest release zip file
  2. Upload the entire easy-theme-and-plugin-upgrades directory to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory
  3. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress

FAQ

Why does the plugin no longer show the drop down to select “Yes”? Is the plugin broken?

Starting with version 2.0.0, this plugin no longer requires that a drop down is used to indicate that an upgrade is to be performed. The plugin now can determine if an upgrade is required automatically. This change not only streamlines the process for many users, it also fixed compatibility issues that some users experienced with older versions.

How do I upgrade a theme?

  1. Download the latest zip file for your theme.
  2. Log into your WordPress site.
  3. Go to Appearance > Themes.
  4. Click the “Add New” button at the top of the page.
  5. Click the “Upload Theme” button at the top of the page.
  6. Select the zip file with the new theme version to install.
  7. Click the “Install Now” button.

How do I upgrade a plugin?

  1. Download the latest zip file for your plugin.
  2. Log into your WordPress site.
  3. Go to Plugins > Add New.
  4. Click the “Upload Plugin” button at the top of the page.
  5. Select the zip file with the new plugin version to install.
  6. Click the “Install Now” button.

How do I access the backup of an old theme or plugin?

  1. Log into your WordPress site.
  2. Go to Media > Library.
  3. Type “backup” into the search input and press the “Enter” key.
  4. Find the desired backup from the resulting list.
  5. Click the title of the desired backup.
  6. The URL to the backup file is listed on the right side of the page under “File URL”. You can copy and paste that URL into your browser’s URL bar in order to start a download.

Reviews

awesome

May 12, 2021
awesome plugin and works with wp 5.7 !!! thank you

Excellent but no-longer needed.

September 4, 2020
I've been using this plugin for a few years to update a custom theme, but the functionality has now been integrated into WordPress. You can now update themes from the default theme upload screen. I'm not sure if the same is true for plugins as I don't use it for that.

Excellent plugin, hoping it remains maintained

September 3, 2020
The title says it all, it takes care of updating plugins/themes that don't have auto update features. I just hope it remains maintained as it is the recommended update process by the primary theme we use.
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Contributors & Developers

“Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

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Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

2.0.2

  • Misc: Version bump to show that this project is still active. No code changes are needed for functionality to continue.

2.0.1

  • Compatibility Update: Updated to indicate compatibility with WordPress 4.9.8.

2.0.0

  • Enhancement: Removed the requirement for the user to select “Yes” from the drop down in order to initiate an update. This new version does not change the appearance of the upload form. Instead, it automatically creates a backup and performs an upgrade if the supplied plugin or theme already exists.
  • Enhancement: If a zip backup file cannot be created, the old directory is renamed to a new name in order to still keep a backup.
  • Enhancement: Updated the code to use a better way of integrating the upgrade logic. This approach should greatly reduce the potential for conflicts with other code or site configurations.
  • Enhancement: The backup details now are found in the same format as the rest of the upgrade messages.

1.0.6

  • Bug Fix: Fixed updates not working with some formats of zip files. Thanks to the team at Kaira for helping solve this issue.

1.0.5

  • Compatibility Fix: Added support for PHP 7.

1.0.4

  • Enhancement: Updated instructions on how to upgrade themes.

1.0.3

  • Compatibility Fix: Added compatibility for theme upgrades in WordPress 3.9.

1.0.2

  • Bug Fix: Removed a stray <i> tag in the Install Plugins screen that caused problems with installing plugins on WPEngine sites.

1.0.1

  • Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with the “The site is being updated and will be back in a few minutes” message showing on the frontend of the site for a few minutes after an upgrade. This only happened on multisite networks.

1.0.0

  • Initial release version

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