With each new Avada update comes a set of new options, features, and code improvements. Our team always ensures we make everyone aware of any important items that will show in the new update. This post outlines several items to consider when you update your Avada website. Awareness of these items can drastically reduce avoidable issues when updating.

It’s a good idea to make sure that you have a current backup of your website, 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 will automate the process for you, such as:

If you use the Slider Revolution plugin and have added custom CSS, please back up the styles because those will be removed when you update. You can also backup 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 something easily avoided by clearing your cache after all updates. 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 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 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 admin 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 most recent version of the Avada Core and Avada Builder plugins available for your theme 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 admin pages. If you dismiss or do not see the prompt, then from your WP Admin, navigate to Avada > Plugins & Add-ons and activate/update the plugins as needed. Every time you update the theme, the Avada Core and Avada Builder will also need to be updated.