General Update Information

With each new Avada update, a set of new options, features, and code improvements is introduced. Our team always ensures everyone is aware of any important items that will appear in the new update. This post outlines several considerations when updating your Avada website. Awareness of these items can drastically reduce avoidable issues when updating.

It’s a good idea to make sure you have a current backup of your website, including the /wp-content/ folder, the wp-config.php file, and the .htaccess file in your WordPress installation folder, as well as a copy of the WordPress database. You can use these to revert 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 will automate the process for you, such as:

If you use the Slider Revolution plugin and have added custom CSS, please back up your styles, as they will be removed when you update. You can also back up your Avada Global Options by generating an export file from the “Import/Export” tab in Avada > Options > Import/Export. Read our Backing Up Your Site & Global Options document for more information on that process.

You must always reset your browser, plugin, and server cache when you update. Visual issues may occur after an update. This is easily avoided by clearing your cache after each update. Each browser allows you to remove cookies, history, and other data. If your theme or Avada Core version is not updated after uploading the new files, it is due to a server-side caching system.

Some hosting providers have server-side caching systems installed to optimize content delivery; please clear the cache or ask your host to do so. This is also true for Google Pagespeed setups or Cloudflare setups. Read this help file for more details on clearing various forms of cache.

When you update Avada, you will see a notification message in your WordPress Dashboard telling you the required and recommended plugins that need to be updated.

Follow the onscreen prompts to install the plugin updates. The Avada Core and Avada Builder plugins are the only required plugins. These have to be installed and activated for the theme to work correctly. Ensure you always use the latest versions of the Avada Core and Avada Builder plugins for your Avada version.

If the required Avada Core and Avada Builder plugins are inactive or not running the latest available versions, you will see a notice at the top of your WordPress Dashboard. If you dismiss or do not see the prompt, navigate to WordPress Dashboard > Avada > Plugins and activate/update the plugins as needed.