Keeping WordPress up to date is one of the most important as far as WordPress maintenance is concerned. In this article we are going to look at how to update WordPress manually as that will ensure your website is always secure, compatible and runs smoothly with the latest themes and plugins.
Manual update to WordPress is only done when you are unable to update WordPress core version within or from the WordPress dashboard. This might be due to a failed update or maybe you want to install a particular version due to compatibility issues either plugin or theme.
What to prepare before updating WordPress Manually.
Before you start or plan to update wordpress manually, there are certain items you need to put into consideration or have.
- Make a backup copy of the current site
- You need to have access to FTP or SFTP logins to your site. If you do not have then get in touch with your hosting support to provide them.
- FTP or SFTP client application like FileZilla or WinSCP
- Copy of latest or the version of wordpress you would like to update to.
Steps involved to Update WordPress Manually
Download a copy of the latest or preferred version of WordPress that you would like to install or update. You can get these from the links below.
Latest copy of wordpress OR Specific WordPress Version
Extract the downloaded zip copy of your wordpress file within the directory mostly you should find this in the download folder or either your PC or Mac.
Login to your website using your preferred FTP client as we mentioned above. After successful login you should be able to see your live sites on the right hand side panel and your local files on the left hand side panel.
In the event that you can’t see your local files, please navigate to the folder where you extracted the WordPress files e.g Downloads folder.
Image showing both live and local files within the FTP client (FileZilla)
You will then need to replace the following WordPress folders and files with the ones on the live site. Delete below folders from the live site and then upload them from the new wordpress folder you just downloaded.
- Wp-admin folder
- Wp-includes folder
- Wp core files
To delete the folder right click and choose Delete
To Upload the folders right click and choose Upload
Once all the files have been uploaded Refresh your website and then update the database as shown below. Click Update WordPress Database
After running the database update, check your site to make sure all is functioning as before. Check all the pages and if you have an ecommerce site make sure the purchasing process is functions well.
Other items to check are the plugins and themes, make sure all are running well and none of the previous active plugin is disabled or deactivated.
Test plugins, theme installation including update process.
That’s it, your WordPress site should now be running on a new version. You can confirm that by Checking Your WordPress Version.
I hope this article helps you update wordpress manually, if you have any comments or questions kindly get in touch or leave a comment below. Thanks.