How to Upgrade to Thesis Version 1.7

Upgrading to the newest version of the Thesis WordPress Theme version 1.7 is very easy. If you’re wondering if it’s worth upgrading, I’d recommend you definitely upgrade. All new versions of Thesis include essential updates and new features. Just follow the simple steps below.

If you are installing Thesis for the first time, visit the installation instructions for Installing Thesis WordPress Theme for the first time.

Do this before upgrading Thesis! If you’ve renamed your active Thesis folder to just /thesis, you must rename it to /thesis_16 (or whatever your corresponding version number is—it really doesn’t matter as long as your folder is not named /thesis). For best results, you should switch to the default WordPress theme before changing the folder name, and then after you’ve changed the name, you should switch back to your newly-renamed Thesis folder. Also, if you want to protect yourself against potential upgrade problems, it’s a good idea to back up your Thesis database now. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to proceed with the upgrade!

Steps to Upgrade to Thesis 1.7

1. Back up the /custom folder from your existing Thesis installation to your hard drive. If you’re upgrading from Thesis 1.5.1 or older, you’ll need to place your /rotator folder and your layout.css file inside your /custom folder.
2. Upload the new Thesis 1.7 folder (/thesis_17) to your /wp-content/themes folder.
3. If you’re upgrading from Thesis 1.6, simply upload your backed-up /custom folder to your new /thesis_17 folder, and then skip to Step 5. If you’re upgrading from a version of Thesis prior to 1.6, rename the /custom-sample folder to /custom, and do not overwrite this folder with your existing /custom folder! Then proceed to Step 4.
4. (This step only applies if you’re upgrading from a version of Thesis prior to 1.6) Instead of overwriting the new /custom folder with the one you just backed up (as you are probably accustomed to doing with previous versions), drag the contents of the /custom folder you backed up in Step 1, and drop it all into your new /custom folder, which should also contain layout.css.
5. Set the permissions of your new layout.css file to 666.
6. Make sure your /cache folder’s permissions are set to 775.
7. Inside your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance → Themes, and then activate Thesis 1.7.
8. Visit the Design Options page from the new Thesis links on the left side of your WordPress dashboard, ensure that Thesis is not giving you a warning about the file permissions on your layout.css file, and then hit the Big Ass Save Button.

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