How to update Divi

Why do you need to update Divi version?

Divi is regularly updated to new versions from the team at Elegant Themes and those updates will include bug fixes, new & improved features, and security updates. You can view every update that is made to Divi in the Divi changelog file.

Updating t the latest version of Divi will ensure that;

• Bugs in the Divi Theme code are fixed.
• Security vulnerabilities are patched making your site safe.
• New theme features are added.
• Existing Theme features are improved
• Compatibility with WordPress and 3rd party plugins is maintained

It is recommended that you always keep your WordPress Themes and plugins updated. Occasionally, there will be a security update which should always be applied to maintain a secure website.

Before updating take a back-up your site

Even with the built-in rollback option available, it is always best to have a backup of your Divi website ready to restore if anything goes wrong (and the rollback option also fails you). By using any of the many free WordPress backup plugins you can sleep easy knowing that if an update to Divi breaks your site then you can quickly restore it to before the issue.

I use the free version of Updraft Plus to back-up my sites into a Dropbox Pro account. It’s very easy to set up and also to restore the site when needed. I would recommend that you test your backups are set up correctly and you know how to restore them using the plugin before the need to do so arises

Follow these 7 steps to update Divi to the latest version

To update your Divi Theme via the WordPress dashboard you will need to;

1. Go to the Elegant Themes members login page and log in using your username and password.
   
2. In your dashboard click on the Account tab and then on Your API Key. Copy your API key or add a new API key.
   
3. In your WordPress dashboard go to Divi Theme Options and click on the Updates tab. Enter your Elegant Themes username (same as your login username) and your API key you just copied and save the settings.
   
4. Divi will now automatically notify you in your dashboard when updates are available and you can update Divi via the dashboard update page.
   
5. Go to Dashboard > Updates and check the checkbox next to Divi Theme and click on  Update Themes.
   
6. Your site will go into maintenance mode for a short time (usually less than 30 seconds) while Divi is updating.
   
7. You have just updated Divi to the latest version and you will get a message to confirm  Divi updated successfully.
   

When not to update Divi (just yet)

Updating your WordPress Themes and plugins is important for a healthy website, but there are times when I would be cautious about updating Divi on any of my more important sites. If a new feature or set of features have been added there is a bigger chance that there will be bugs that will be identified, reported and fixed in the upcoming few version updates.

When Divi version numbers are showing 3.xx I know that it is a relatively large update which has a higher chance of having bugs and incompatibility issues. You will see that shortly after there will be a number of smaller updates with version numbers of 3.xx.xx and it is these that will include bug fixes for the 3.xx update. With a site back-up and rollback option in place, it doesn’t really matter too much but it is something to consider.

As a general rule, I will wait a couple of updates before I update any of my key websites.

• Update Divi when the version number is 3.xx.3+
• Don’t update Divi (just yet) when the version number is 3.xx

How to roll back a Divi update to the previous version

Elegant Themes try to ensure that any Divi updates are fully tested to work with the many WordPress plugins, hosting set-ups and customized code that may be on your Divi website, but sometimes a theme update can cause issues and break a site. As a backup, Divi includes an update version rollback feature that allows you to restore Divi to the previous version prior to your update.

To restore the previous version of Divi prior to your update you will need to;

1. Go to Theme options > Updates
2. Click on the black ROLLBACK TO THE PREVIOUS VERSION button
3. Your site will go into maintenance mode for a short time while the previous version is installed and activated.

Updating the latest version of Divi manually with FTP

If you are unable to update your Divi Theme via the WordPress Updates page you may need to update it manually. Do do this you will need to download a copy of the latest version of Divi from your Elegant Themes members dashboard and upload it using an FTP program.

To update your Divi Theme manually you will need to;

1. Go to the Elegant Themes members area and login to your account
2. Click on the DOWNLOAD THE DIVI THEME button at the top of the page
3. In your FTP program (I use CoffeeCup HTML editor which has built-in FTP) access your site files and look for wp-content/theme/Divi
4. Rename the Divi folder to Divi-x (this is so you can easily delete the new version and rename the old one back to Divi if there are issues)
5. Unzip the latest Divi version you downloaded from Elegant Themes and upload to your server under the wp-content/themes/ folder
6. You are now running the latest version of Divi

Updating legacy Divi Theme pre 2.7.2 using Divi update plugin

Before Divi version 2.7, updates were made either manually or by using the Elegant Themes Updater Plugin. If you happen to be using a version of Divi 2.7 or older and want to update the theme the Updater plugin will add Username and API fields into the WordPress General Settings area. After you have updated Divi to a version above 2.7 you can then delete the plugin and use the theme options method as explained above in this post.