About a week before the new WordPress version 4.3 is released, StudioPress rolled out an update for the Genesis Framework, version 2.1.3. Along with the announcement of Genesis 2.1.3 comes a warning from StudioPress:
You must upgrade to Genesis 2.1.3 before upgrading to WordPress 4.3. Failing to do so may result in losing some taxonomy term meta data, like certain SEO data or settings.
It’s easy to miss this very important message, but it’s very important that you update the Genesis Framework to version 2.1.3 BEFORE updating to WordPress 4.3, otherwise you might run into issues caused by changes to way WordPress handles shared taxonomy terms.
You can visit the Genesis 2.1.3 change log to read more about this and other updates for this version.
Don’t Wait To Update Genesis
With WordPress auto updates, don’t take the risk of waiting to update Genesis. If you wait, there’s a chance your site will be automatically updated to WordPress 4.3 BEFORE you’ve updated Genesis, in which case you might experience the issues mentioned above.
Updating The Genesis Framework
There are two recommended ways to update the Genesis Framework. These changes will overwrite your existing Genesis Framework files (inside your “Genesis” theme folder), so any changes made to those files will be lost.
For this reason, it’s recommended that you never modify the core Genesis files, making changes instead to your child theme or through a plugin.
Backup Your Website
Don’t take chances with your website. Before any update, you should create a full backup of your website, both the database and the files. This way, if something goes wrong with your update you can revert to your backup, without losing any data.
It’s easy to skip this step and think that everything will be ok, but don’t take any chances here.
Auto Updater Via The WordPress Admin
In your WordPress Admin dashboard in the left hand menu, click on “Genesis > Theme Settings”. At the top of the page you’ll see the link to update your site:
Update show up at different times so if you don’t see the update yet, try visiting the front end of your website and checking again. If you still don’t see it, check back later.
Click the “update now” link and after the update you’ll see this message:
Click the “Click here to complete the upgrade” link, and the updgrade will finish and redirect you to a “Welcome to Genesis 2.1” screen. All done.
Updating The Genesis Framework Manually
As mentioned above, make sure you completely back up your website’s database and all files before proceeding.
Download the latest version 2.1.3 Genesis Framework and unzip the file.
Delete the “genesis” folder from your WordPress “wp-content/themes” directory and replace it with the new “genesis” folder (unzipped). Login to your dashboard to complete the upgrade.
Once you’ve successfully upgraded, you’ll be able to safely update to WordPress 4.3 next week when it’s rolled out.
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