Update the theme

This guide walks you through the process of safely updating your WoodMart theme to the latest version, ensuring you maintain all customizations and avoid common update issues.

Automatic updates with purchase code

An automatic theme update is the easiest and safest way to make an update. You do not need to do anything. WordPress will do the job for you.

In order to get the option for the automatic update, you need to activate your theme. Navigate to Dashboard -> WoodMart -> Theme License, insert the purchase code, and check the agreement for the storing of the  purchase code and user data by xtemos.com

How to find your purchase code

  1. Log into your Envato Market account.
  2. Hover the mouse over your username at the top of the screen.
  3. Click “Downloads” from the drop-down menu.
  4. Click “License certificate & purchase code” (available as PDF or text file).

For more details, see the official Envato guide: Where is my purchase code?

As soon as your theme has been activated, you will see the notification on an update in the Dashboard -> Appearance -> Themes. Enter the WoodMart theme and just press “Update now” on the theme as shown:

All the theme files will be updated. At the same time, all the theme settings and custom CSS remain.

Note
If you made some customization/code changes directly in our theme files, you might lose them after updating all files.

We suggest you customize our theme using a child theme and don’t change the actual theme files as this will make it easier to update your parent theme.

Update required plugins

After updating the WoodMart theme, you should update all required plugins to ensure the correct work of your website. The main plugin that always requires updates is WoodMart core. You can find and update all required plugins via WoodMart -> Plugins.

Manual update

You can also update the theme manually

  1. Download the most recent WoodMart version from your ThemeForest account.
  2. Go to Appearance -> Themes -> Add new
  3. Click on the “Upload theme” button and then choose the theme installable zip file in the form.
  4. Click on “Install now.”
  5. WordPress will show you information about your existing version. Click on the “Replace current with uploaded” button.
  6. Go to WoodMart -> Plugins and update the WoodMart core plugin.

I can’t update the theme and get BAD_FORMAT error

Sometimes during updates, you can get the following error:

Note
It usually happens when you transfer your website completely to a new domain and deactivate the license on the old domain. In this case, your new activation is no longer valid. To avoid this, you need to always deactivate the theme license before transferring your website.

To fix this problem and update the theme, you need to perform the following actions:

  1. Go to Dashboard -> WoodMart -> Theme License and deactivate the theme.
  2. Go to Dashboard -> Updates and click on the “Check Again” button.
  3. Activate the theme with your purchase code again.
  4. Try to update the theme via Appearance -> Themes or via Dashboard -> Updates.

Theme update video tutorial


Watch our step-by-step video tutorial to learn how to update the WoodMart theme safely and correctly. In just a few minutes, you’ll see the entire process explained clearly, ensuring your website stays up to date with the latest features and improvements.

Last updated: August 21, 2025
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