With each new Phox update comes incredible new features, new options, code improvements and fixes. Our team takes the utmost care in creating updates and ensuring everything is fully tested by our team as well as a large group of beta customers. It is important that we communicate to our customers any important items that need to be taken into consideration when updating. This post is dedicated to relaying that information to you any time a new major version of Phox is released.

General Update Information:

1. Always Backup Your Current Setup

It’s always a good idea to make sure that you have a current backup of your web site, including your wp-content folder, your wp-config.php file, and your .htaccess file in your WordPress installation folder, and a copy of your WordPress database. You can use these to revert back to your original site if something unforeseen happens during the update process. If you are not familiar with how to do this yourself, there are several plugins available that completely automate that process for you, such as UpDraft Plus. If you are using the Revolution Slider and have added custom CSS, please make a backup of the styles because those will be removed when you update. You can also backup your Phox Theme Options on the Backup tab in Phox > Theme Options > Import, Export & Reset.

2. Do Not Keep Older Copies of The Theme In WP Theme Folder

You should completely remove all previous Phox theme folders before adding the new updated theme folder, or you could end up with WP path issues, etc.

3. Do Not Rename The Theme Folder

If you rename your theme folder when you update, then the path is no longer valid. WordPress stores menus and widget settings and some other settings by folder path. You need to rename your theme folder back to what it was before, and your settings, menus, widgets will be restored. Make a copy of your current theme folder before you upload the new theme.

4. Reset Theme Cache, Browser Cache, Server Cache And Plugin Cache

It is always recommended to reset all caching systems after an update, including theme cache, your browser, plugin (e.g. W3 Total Cache), and server cache. Visual issues may happen and more often than not, its caused by caches, and they need to be emptied. Each browser allows you to remove cookies, history, and other data. If your theme is not updated after uploading the new files, it is due to a server-side caching system. Some hosting providers have server-side cache systems installed to optimize the speed of content delivery, please clear any server-side cache or ask your host to do it. This is also true for google page speed setups or Cloudflare setups.

5. Update The Child Theme – if you used

If you have copied template files from parent theme to child theme. Please make sure to revert to parent theme first to confirm if the issue exists there too. If it doesn’t, please update the templates copied to child theme with the parent theme.

6. Required & Recommended Plugins Must Be Updated

When you update the theme, you will see a notification message in your admin telling you the required and recommended plugins need to be updated. Follow the onscreen prompts to install the plugin updates. Make sure you are always using the most recent version of the Phox-host plugin. You will be prompted to install it upon installing or updating your theme. If you dismiss the prompt or do not see it, then you can go to Phox > Install Plugins page and install the plugin that way. Every time you update the theme, the plugin also needs to be updated.