Versioning Theme
- A theme can indeed have multiple versions. Theme developers can increase the version of a theme when new features are implemented. Themes generally follow semantic versioning, which means that the magnitude of the change determines whether it's a major, minor, or patch version increment.
- Having different versions is beneficial for adding new features to child themes. When a new version of a parent theme is synced, all the child themes associated with that parent theme have the option to upgrade themselves to the latest version. However, this upgrade is optional, and store owners can choose whether or not to adopt the new version.
- Before upgrading, store owners can preview the changes that come with the new version. This allows them to assess the impact of the upgrade before fully committing to it. When a theme version is upgraded, child themes inherit the system pages, custom pages, available sections, and global configurations from the parent theme. This ensures consistency and ease of maintenance across the themes.
Upgrade theme version
- Create a backup of your existing theme files and database.
- Obtain the updated theme files for the new version.
- Replace the old theme files with the new ones.
- Update any theme dependencies or external libraries.
- Test and validate the upgraded theme for any issues or conflicts.
- Communicate the availability of the new version to users, if applicable.
Using NPM CLI
Since themes use semantic versioning developers can use npm version commands to change the version of the theme. Refer npm docs for more info.