How to Install and Update Your WordPress Plugins and Themes

Introduction

Whether you are setting up donation forms, building online courses, publishing event calendars, or designing your website layout, installing and maintaining your software is essential. Keeping your WordPress plugins and themes updated ensures you receive feature enhancements, performance optimizations, bug fixes, and critical security patches.

Best Practice Warning: Before performing plugin or theme updates on a live production website, always take a complete backup of your site or test the update in a staging environment first.

Method 1: Installing Software via the Liquid Web Portal (.zip Upload)

As a customer, you can access your bundled software—both the free core versions and the premium add-ons—directly from your account in the Liquid Web software portal. This includes LearnDash LMS, Events Calendar Pro, GiveWP, Kadence, and all the free and premium extensions.

Step 1: Download Your Software

1. Log in to your account at https://software.liquidweb.com/.
2. From your Dashboard, navigate to the Subscription tab.
3. Click the Manage button next to the software you want to download.
4. Scroll to the Downloads section and click the Download button to download your free or premium plugin/theme.
5. It will save as a .zip file on your computer. (Note: Do not extract or unzip the file on your computer)

Step 2: Upload to WordPress

6. In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New. (Note: If you downloaded the Kadence Theme, navigate to Appearance > Themes > Add New instead)
7. Click the Upload Plugin (or Upload Theme) button at the top of the page.
8. Click Choose File, select the downloaded .zip file from your computer, and click Install Now.
9. Once the upload finishes, click Activate Plugin (or Activate for themes).

Method 2: Installing Free Versions via the WordPress Repository

If you prefer not to download the .zip files from the Liquid Web software portal, the free core versions of GiveWP, The Events Calendar, Event Tickets, Kadence, and the free extensions are also available for download in the official WordPress repository.

For Free Plugins:

1. In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New.
2. In the search bar at the top right, enter the plugin name.
3. Locate the plugin in the search results, click Install Now, then click Activate.
   

For the Free Kadence Theme:

(Note: If you want to use Kadence’s premium features, you must install the free Kadence Theme first. Premium features like Kadence Blocks Pro are plugins, which must be installed via the .zip upload method described in Method 1)

1. In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes.
2. Click Add New Theme at the top of the page.
3. In the search bar, type Kadence.
4. Hover over the Kadence theme card, click Install, and then Activate.

Activating License Keys for Software Updates

For Unified License Plan Subscribers

When you install plugins under a Unified License plan, all your Liquid Web software can be managed from one central location.

• Navigate to Settings > Liquid Web Products in your WordPress admin dashboard.
• From here, you can activate, deactivate, or install your software, and find links to upgrade to higher plans. (Note: Each individual plugin’s menu—such as GiveWP / LearnDash LMS / Events > Licensing—also includes a link that will redirect you to this Liquid Web portal page).

For Legacy Plan Subscribers

If you purchased your software before the Unified Licensing plan (or prefer to stay on a legacy subscription), you must connect a valid license key for your premium products to receive automatic update notifications and one-click updates.

Navigate to the respective settings page in your dashboard to activate your license:

• GiveWP: Navigate to GiveWP > Settings > Licenses, enter your key, and click Save Changes.
• The Events Calendar Pro: Navigate to Events > Settings > Licenses, enter your key(s), and click Save Changes.
• LearnDash LMS: Navigate to LearnDash LMS > Settings, select the Legacy License tab, enter your Email and License Key, and click Update License.
• Kadence: Navigate to Kadence > Settings. On the right-hand side of the screen, look for the Kadence Blocks Pro License Key section and enter your key.

How to Update Plugins and Themes

Once your software is activated and licenses are connected, updates can be executed directly inside WordPress using either of the following methods:

Method A: The Central Updates Page (Recommended)

1. In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Dashboard > Updates.
2. Click Check Again to ensure WordPress has retrieved the latest version releases.
3. Scroll down to the Plugins or Themes list.
4. Select the checkboxes next to the items you want to update.
5. Click Update Plugins or Update Themes.

Method B: The Plugins Screen

1. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
2. Review your plugin list for any yellow update alert banners.
3. Click Update Now next to the specific plugin you want to upgrade.

How to Manually Upgrade Very Old Plugins or Themes

If you have not updated a plugin or theme for several release cycles, the standard automatic update may fail, time out, or break your site’s database. In these cases, you must perform a manual upgrade.

Step 1: Make a Complete Site Backup

Before manually replacing core software files, always ensure you have a complete, recent backup of your WordPress database and files.

Step 2: Perform Incremental Updates (Stepping Up)

For complex software like GiveWP or LearnDash, jumping across multiple major versions all at once can corrupt your data. Instead of updating straight to the newest version, you should “step up” by manually installing intermediate major versions first (e.g., update from v1.5 → v2.0 → v3.0 → v4.0). You can request these older, specific version .zip files from our support team.

Step 3: Upload and Overwrite the Old Version

Once you have the correct .zip file, you can manually replace the old version directly from your WordPress dashboard:

1. Navigate to Plugins > Add New (or Appearance > Themes > Add New for Kadence).
2. Click the Upload Plugin (or Upload Theme) button at the top.
3. Click Choose File, select the newer .zip file from your computer, and click Install Now.
4. WordPress will detect that the plugin or theme is already installed. It will display a screen comparing your current older version to the newly uploaded version.
5. Click the Replace current with uploaded button to safely overwrite the old files.