WordPress is constantly amplifying. On February 3, 2021, WordPress Version 5.6.1 release to the public. With the help of trusty developers and the constant feedback from the community, the platform is frequently updated. Besides new features, updates address security vulnerabilities, and generally improve the overall WordPress experience. Maintaining a regular flow of content on your blog site isn’t enough to keep it going. Assuming that you’re using WordPress software for your blog, it’s vital that your blog is running on the latest WordPress version. There are many reasons why it should, but the most important one is ‘security’. An upgrade WordPress ensures that your blog site has the latest security measures plugged in and is far from the risk of being hacked.
You should always upgrade WordPress to the latest version. When a new version of WordPress is available you will receive an update message in your WordPress Admin Screens. Anyway, there are two ways to upgrade your WordPress website to latest version, one is Manually upgrading WordPress and another way is Automatically upgrading WordPress. I write this tutorial with the title “How to Upgrade WordPress to Latest Version – Ultimate Guide!” and it will give you the ultimate guide for upgrading WordPress version. To upgrade WordPress to latest version follow the instructions bellow…
ATTENTION: The upgrade process will affect all files and folders included in the main WordPress installation. This includes all the core files used to run WordPress. If you have made any modifications to those files, your changes will be lost.
Before You Go for WordPress Upgrade
- Check the requirements of the upgrade version of WordPress (especially PHP and MySQL) and ensure that your host has the required versions of software.
- Backup your data so that you do not lose any of your published/unpublished posts and pages. (You can use BackUpWordPress plugin)
- Check that your themes and plugins are compatible with the updated version. If they are not compatible, you have two choices: wait until each of them gets updated, or start work with fresh themes and new plugins because they have a direct impact on the efficiency of your website.
- Disable all plugins.
#Way 1: Manually Upgrading WordPress Version
If you want to update WordPress manually you have to go into the WordPress admin panel. Before you proceed with the upgrade, I strongly advise you to make the online backup of your WordPress (You can use BackUpWordPress plugin). Here’s how you can manually upgrade your WordPress website to latest version:
- Download the updated version of WordPress. Save it on your computer or hard drive.
- Unzip the WordPress folder. Save all the files on your hard drive (remember the folder name/demarcate it from the others).
- Open your FTP program. Log in to your blog site with the email id it is associated with it.
- Navigate to the WordPress files unzipped earlier from your site’s installation setting.
- Upload all the files to corresponding folders on your website.
- Navigate back to your browser and again log in to your WordPress website site.
- If the new update requires you to update your database as well, WordPress will display a link to do so. Simply click on it and the follow directions.
- Your WordPress database has been successfully updated. Click “Continue“. As you can see, the WordPress has been updated to the latest version.
Make sure everything installed on your blog site and that they’re working properly. This will help you avoid technical breakdowns when the site goes live.
#Way 2: Automatically Upgrading WordPress Version
If you do not wish to upgrade your WordPress website manually, you can go for the automatic upgrade option:
- Login to your WordPress website with the admin role enable account.
- Look on your dashboard for a message right at the top that you need to ‘Update WordPress‘ (if you are still on a previous version). If your account does not show the message, click on the settings → updates. This will display the current version and any available update.
- If an update is required, click to install the update and enter your connection information to proceed.
- If you have a customized theme running on your blog site, backup all files before the update and reload them once you’re with the update.
- Wait for the update to go through. Once WordPress informs you that the update is complete, move on to checking if everything is in place and working as it was before.
- Enable all the plugins you disabled before the update.
If you get problems after the upgrade, you can always restore your backup and replace the files with ones from your previous version from the release archive.
Conclusion
Now the WordPress has been successfully upgraded! I tried my best to explain steps with simple language and make sure you understood well. But, still you may have a question? Frankly ask me about it, i will try more to make clear sense. Please don’t forget to share this experience with other by simply clicking social share buttons.