Theme updates are improvements to Stencil themes that incorporate new features or fix known issues. Keeping your theme up-to-date ensures that your site performs optimally and takes advantage of the latest BigCommerce features.
Updates only apply to the default versions of themes acquired from the Theme Marketplace. Uploaded custom themes and copies of marketplace themes will not receive updates.
Keep your custom theme current. Updates are not available for uploaded custom themes or copies of marketplace themes. See Updating Custom Themes for more information.
Updating Marketplace Themes
When an update is available for a marketplace theme, a notification will appear in the control panel dashboard. To preview the theme and apply updates, go to Storefront › Themes.
Using Multi-Storefront? Each storefront's themes are located in the storefront-specific settings within Channel Manager. See Single-Storefront vs. Multi-Storefront for more information.
Current Theme
To preview how the update may affect your storefront, click the Customize Update button. This will open the Page Builder and show a preview of your storefront. Click Publish to apply the updated theme to your storefront.
To apply updates without entering Page Builder, click the Update button. On the Update Theme popup window, click Yes.
Don't see any changes when you preview an update? This is normal, since most updates will affect only features on the back end of your store. The preview allows you to confirm that it does not affect your storefront.
Other Themes
To update marketplace themes that are not currently applied to your storefront, scroll down to the Themes section. A notification will display on themes with available updates.
Clicking the Update Available button opens the theme details page.
To preview how the update may affect your storefront, click the Customize Update button. This will open the Page Builder and show a preview of your storefront. Click Use as Active Theme to save any changes and apply the updated theme to your storefront.
You can also click the Action menu to select Customize Update from the list.
To apply updates to a theme without entering Page Builder or changing the current theme, click the Update button. On the Update theme popup window, click Update theme.
Updating Custom Themes
If you are using an uploaded custom theme or a copy of a marketplace theme, you will need to get in touch with the theme’s developer for any available updates. BigCommerce cannot push updates to custom or third-party themes.
To determine if your current theme is a custom version, make note of your theme’s name, then temporarily apply a different theme to your storefront. Scroll down to the Themes section, locate your theme and check for a Custom label under the theme name.
When an update has been pushed to a marketplace theme, you can use the Update button on the original theme to update to the most current version. The update will not apply to existing copies of the theme, but can be used as a base to add your customizations to a new copy of the theme.
Use the documentation and release notes link located on the theme details page to view any changes the theme developer has included in the new version. Your developer may be able to use the updated theme files and the release notes to copy any changes into your custom copy of the theme. For any specific details on the release notes, contact the theme developer.
Custom vs. Customized. Only uploaded custom themes and copies of themes are excluded from updates. If you are using an original marketplace theme that has only been customized using Page Builder, the theme will still receive updates.
FAQ
Does updating the original version of a theme affect existing copies of the theme?
Updates only affect the original version of a marketplace theme. Any existing copies will be unaffected. Copies of the original theme made after the update will be of the updated version.
I customized my theme using Page Builder. Will I still receive updates?
Yes. If you are using an original marketplace theme that has only been customized using Page Builder, the theme will still receive updates.
Can I undo a theme update?
No, theme updates cannot be undone. If you experience an issue with an updated theme, contact the theme developer.
