WordPress Version Update (Automatic & Manual Method)

If you have a WordPress website, it’s very important to keep it updated to the newest version. WordPress is constantly releasing updates that add new features and fix any security issues or bugs that were found in previous versions. Updates also add new functionality and improvements to the core WordPress software. This gives you access to the latest tools and features to enhance your website’s performance.

Here we’ll see how we can update WordPress to the latest available version and stay more secure.

Updating to the latest WordPress version ensures your website stays secure from potential hacking attempts that could compromise your site. The newest versions patch up any security holes that may have been present in older versions that hackers could exploit.

Did you know? As of 2021, WordPress releases major updates approximately every 4 months on average, with minor updates occurring more frequently as needed for bug fixes and security patches.

You can get more information about all the versions from the release page of the official website:

https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/

There are two main ways you can update your WordPress website to the latest version:

• Automatic Updates: This is the easiest method. WordPress will automatically detect if a new version is available and prompt you to update with just a click of a button. The update process happens seamlessly in the background.
• Manual Updates: For this method, you have to download the latest WordPress version files from wordpress.org and manually upload and replace the old files on your website server or hosting account. This gives you more control over when and how you update.

It is an easy way to update your WordPress website. Open Dashboard >> Home, there you’ll find the current version of the WordPress that has been installed on your server on the local system along with the Update button.

It will automatically update to the latest version of WordPress and you are good to go to use all the features that come along.

Follow the given steps to manually update WordPress Version –

Step 1: You need to Access the WordPress files from the CPanel of your server and go to the WordPress folder. In my case, I am using WordPress locally so I have to go to the local directory of the folders where WordPress is being installed into my system.

There you’ll see all the files including:

• wp-admin
• wp-content
• wp-includes

Step 2: Now, you have to download the latest version of WordPress onto your local computer. For that, go to the WordPress website and click on Get WordPress and then Download WordPress. You’ll get a zip file into your download folder.

Step 3: Delete wp-include and wp-admin folder from the old WordPress directory and copy the new one with same name which you got when downloaded the latest WordPress by following the above step. 

Step 4: Copy wp-content folder from the downloaded folder to the old folder (without deleting the old folder) and click on replace all, if asked.

Step 5: Copy the rest of the remaining files from the downloaded folder and paste them into the root directory of the installed WordPress folder.

Step 6: Now, go to the WordPress Dashboard and refresh it. You may get a popup Database Update Require. If yes, simply click on Update WordPress Database button and click on Continue.

And that’s it, you have successfully updated to the latest version of WordPress.

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Keeping your WordPress site updated to the newest available version is crucial for maintaining a secure, high-performing website with access to the latest features and functionality. As covered in this article, WordPress offers two straightforward methods to install updates – automatic method, or manual method the new version files and uploading them to your server yourself.

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