Arguing that theme updates should not induce panic attacks

Sounds like a pretty reasonable expectation, right?

But when it comes to WordPress themes that include everything but the kitchen sink, that’s not always the case.

“[Premium theme name redacted]‘s had 7 updates and a few have required days to repair my site…”

Why theme updates are necessary

No theme is perfect. Coding standards change. Bugs are overlooked. Security vulnerabilities are discovered. But a balance needs to be struck between managing technical debt and not completely disregarding theme customizations.

How theme updates can break sites

The easiest way for a parent theme update to break a child theme’s customizations would be to change the HTML markup. If a child theme is trying to style .this_selector, and the parent theme changes it to .this-selector, that CSS rule gets thrown out the window.

Child themes are not a magic bullet

Child themes are certainly safer than modifying parent themes directly. But characterizing child themes as “safe” while ignoring the risks of irresponsible parent theme updates can lead to a false sense of security.

Consider retiring old themes

Just like you can’t buy the original iPod from Apple anymore, themes don’t last forever either.

Use a staging site, seriously

The only way to prevent a panic attack when updating themes on a live site is to not update themes on a live site.