How to Update WordPress Plugins and Themes

This straightforward article will shows you exactly how to update any GPL WordPress themes and plugins from ZIP file effortlessly.

Please read our previous article on how to install WordPress plugins and themes.

Requirements

First, you have to install Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades (ETPU).

Doing so is easy.

1. Login to WordPress dahsboard
2. Go to Plugins >> Add New
3. Type “Easy Theme and Plugin Upgrades” in the search field
4. Click Install
5. Click Activate

The plugin does not have any additional settings. It just works.

How to Update A WordPress Plugin

1. Login to GPLDAY.COM
2. Go to My Account and download the plugin zip file(s)
3. Login to your WordPress Admin Dashboard
4. Go to Plugins >> Add New >> Upload Plugin
5. Select the ZIP file you downloaded
6. Click Install Now button
7. Once installed, click Activate.

The steps are just the same as installing a new plugin. This time the ETPU plugin will do the magic behind the show.

ETPU detects automatically whether it’s a new install or an update. If an update is detected, ETPU will first create backup then replace the old plugin with newer one.

How to Update A WordPress Theme

1. Login to GPLDAY.COM
2. Go to My Account and download the plugin zip file(s)
3. Login to your WordPress Admin Dashboard
4. Go to Appearance >> Themes >> Add New >> Upload Theme
5. Select the ZIP file you downloaded
6. Click Install Now button
7. Once installed, click Activate.

The steps are just the same as installing a new theme. Similarly, the ETPU plugin will do the magic behind the show.

Common Errors

The package could not be installed. The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet

This error occurs when you uploaded a wrong ZIP file. Please bear in mind that some WordPress GPL items (mostly themes) are double-compressed. In other words, it’s a ZIP file inside a ZIP file.

You must first decompress the downloaded ZIP file, find the actual installable ZIP file, then upload it to your WordPress site.

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted

Make sure your PHP server environment has following settings:

max_execution_time = 600;
max_input_vars = 5000;
memory_limit = 256M;
post_max_size = 128M;
upload_max_filesize = 128M;

Avoid wrong upload

Make sure you can distinguish between a WordPress theme file and a plugin file. Therefore, you must upload a plugin ZIP file through Plugins menu, and upload a theme ZIP file through Themes menu in your WordPress dashboard.