How to Update Your Divi Website SAFELY to Divi 4.0

by Tim Strifler | Oct 17, 2019 | Divi Tutorials | 77 comments

Today is the day that Divi 4.0 is released! It’s super exciting and the long awaited Divi Theme Builder is finally here!

However, this is a major version update, which means you need to be EXTRA careful when updating.

The video goes through the steps you should take to help avoid disaster, and how to easily back step if things do go wrong.

You can also watch the tutorial on Facebook, if you prefer.

If you have questions, or have requests on what you’d like to see covered, please leave a comment below, or on YouTube or Facebook 🙂

Step by Step Guide on How to Update Your Divi Website Safely

Step 0: Wait a few weeks…

Step 1: Back Up the Website!
- Server Level Backup (WP Engine, Flywheel, etc)
- Backup Plugin
- Updraft Plus
- All in One WP Migration
- BackWPup
- Backup Buddy
Test the Update in a Staging Environment
- Test in Your Built-in Server Staging (WP Engine, Flywheel, etc)
- Clone Your Site in Your Hosting Environment (manual staging)
- Migrate Site to Local (Local by Flywheel)
Download the Current Version of Divi You’re Running and Store Safely
- Download via FTP
- Use File Manager Plugin to Download Current Version
Test EVERYTHING (while in Staging)
- All Major Pages
- All Functionality
- All Devices
Update Live Site, and Test More
Something wrong? Need to Revert?
- Divi’s Built in Revert Tool
- Your Downloaded Copy of Divi in the previously working version
- Your Backup

77 Comments

Paul Hooper on October 17, 2019 at 11:09 am

Replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:07 pm
  
  Thanks Paul!
  Reply
  - Tiago Lavis-Fernandes on October 17, 2019 at 6:20 pm
    
    I’m so glad you posted this, the backup literally saved me HOURS! thank you so much!
    Reply
    - Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:40 am
      
      That’s awesome to hear!! 🙂
      Reply
- Sam Korede on October 21, 2019 at 1:22 am
  
  This theme is awesome.
  Reply
  - Tim Strifler on October 21, 2019 at 10:09 am
    
    Yes, yes it is Sam 🙂
    Reply
Fletcher Davies on October 17, 2019 at 11:09 am

Looking forward to seeing Divi 4 update.
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:06 pm
  
  YES! Me too, can’t wait. Only a little while left, assuming the countdown timer is perfectly accurate 🙂
  Reply
  - Stephen Vaughan on October 17, 2019 at 12:25 pm
    
    Divi 4, Season 4 of the Brexit drama climax, Ireland v The All blacks? I’m completely conflicted. What to watch???
    Reply
    - Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:53 pm
      
      Haha!! Divi 4 of course! 🙂
      Reply
Puya Hariri on October 17, 2019 at 11:11 am

replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:06 pm
  
  Thanks for tuning in Puya 🙂
  Reply
Debbie Durham on October 17, 2019 at 11:12 am

replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:06 pm
  
  Thanks Debbie!
  Reply
NATASHA SUTTON on October 17, 2019 at 11:12 am

Replay
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- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:06 pm
  
  Great, thanks for watching Natasha 🙂
  Reply
Suffian Ahmed on October 17, 2019 at 11:14 am

Hi, We are all excited to work with Divi 4.0 and thanks for sharing such great informative vides to your valuable customers. Thank You.
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:05 pm
  
  You’re welcome! I’m glad you found the info useful 🙂
  Reply
Maureen Murphy on October 17, 2019 at 11:17 am

Watching on Divi Life
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:05 pm
  
  Awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to watch, Maureen 🙂
  Reply
artm on October 17, 2019 at 11:27 am

replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:05 pm
  
  Thanks for watching!
  Reply
Lizz on October 17, 2019 at 11:35 am

Hi there, thanks for the helpful steps. Do you have a step by step list we can follow as well?
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:04 pm
  
  Yep! The list has just been published 🙂
  Reply
Mark Viergutz on October 17, 2019 at 11:40 am

Could you publish and make available a cheat sheet with these points?
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:03 pm
  
  Hey Mark! Yes, the post has just now been updated with the step by steps written out 🙂
  Reply
Andrej on October 17, 2019 at 11:45 am

Some really great tips, Tim. I have downloaded Divi version 3.29.3 (probably the last version before 4.0) just to be safe. 🙂
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:03 pm
  
  Glad you liked it, Andrej. And awesome, great idea! 🙂
  Reply
Stewart Savage on October 17, 2019 at 11:51 am

Will you be updating your Divi plugins to work with the updated theme?
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:02 pm
  
  Yes, absolutely! We will definitely be updating our plugins asap if needed. Unfortunately 3rd party product companies like us aren’t given early access to releases in order to test, so we won’t know for sure if there’s anything that will break with Divi 4.0 until it’s released today. We don’t anticipate any major issues though, and all of our plugins will still be relevant. There’s A LOT of 3rd party Divi products that will be obsolete (or mostly obsolete) after Divi 4.0 is released, however luckily that won’t be the case with Divi Life products. 🙂
  Reply
Lilly on October 17, 2019 at 11:56 am

You’re on a roll, Tim! Wow. Loving this content, thank you!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:13 pm
  
  Thanks Lilly!! I’m glad you’re loving it. Let me know if you have any topics you’d like me to cover 🙂
  Reply
Bev on October 17, 2019 at 12:22 pm

Hi Tim, sounds like some great new features but also something that is going to cause me some stress. Disaster is not an option… Couple questions: will the new update affect Woocommerce installations? What folder do I upload the current version of Divi to so I can quickly activate it if needed?

Thanks!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:56 pm
  
  Hi Bev, I think if you follow the steps I’ve outlined, everything will be fine. It could be that this is a super smooth update and nothing will break. But it’s always better to be safe and exercise caution. As for WooCommerce, I’m not sure exactly, but these same steps will help avoid disaster altogether. It’s best to have the last known working version of Divi to be downloaded to your computer as a local copy.
  Reply
Cham on October 17, 2019 at 12:30 pm

Replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:52 pm
  
  Thanks Cham!
  Reply
Linda Speight on October 17, 2019 at 12:45 pm

replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:52 pm
  
  Great, thanks Linda!
  Reply
Bernard Lemieux on October 17, 2019 at 1:23 pm

Replay
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- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 1:49 pm
  
  Awesome, thanks Bernard
  Reply
Bill Enross on October 17, 2019 at 1:27 pm

replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 1:48 pm
  
  Great, thanks for watching 🙂
  Reply
Jeferson on October 17, 2019 at 1:31 pm

Hi,

Very good, I will apply on the websites in agency.

Regards.
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 1:48 pm
  
  Awesome, good luck! 🙂
  Reply
Mickey Diener on October 17, 2019 at 1:59 pm

Thanks for this.
Replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 2:02 pm
  
  You’re welcome!!
  Reply
Graham on October 17, 2019 at 3:15 pm

Replay. Thanks Tim.
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 4:49 pm
  
  Thanks Graham 🙂
  Reply
Pat Riley on October 17, 2019 at 3:33 pm

Replay! Thanks!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 4:49 pm
  
  You’re welcome, thanks for watching!
  Reply
Don on October 17, 2019 at 8:08 pm

Replay
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:39 am
  
  Hey Don thanks for watching
  Reply
Lydia Nielsen on October 17, 2019 at 11:18 pm

Replay
Great- Thanks Tim!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:38 am
  
  You’re welcome! Thanks for watching! 🙂
  Reply
Renee on October 18, 2019 at 1:31 am

Replay. Appreciate your practical, step-by-step approach. Thanks!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:38 am
  
  You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful, and I appreciate the feedback 🙂
  Reply
piadina on October 18, 2019 at 1:51 am

hello,

how can i update to Divi 4.0?
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:37 am
  
  Go to the WordPress update screen from within WP Admin. If you have an active Divi subscription, and you’ve added your credentials to the Update tab within Divi Theme Options, then you should see the update show up. Just remember to follow the best practice steps I’ve outlined in this tutorial 🙂
  Reply
Lorenzo on October 18, 2019 at 2:19 am

Replay
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- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:36 am
  
  Thanks Lorenzo 🙂
  Reply
Goran Olson on October 18, 2019 at 6:15 am

Thanks, Tim, great tips!

What will 4.0 mean more concretely for the RoyalCommerce child?
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- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:36 am
  
  You’re welcome! We will be rebuilding and repackaging all of our child themes including RoyalCommerce to take advantage of the new features in the Theme Builder. But for now, everything should still be fully compatible. 🙂
  Reply
Jenn on October 18, 2019 at 9:07 am

Replay. Good information. Thank you so much.

I would love to see a tutorial specifically on how to do this step:

Download the Current Version of Divi You’re Running and Store Safely
•Download via FTP
•Use File Manager Plugin to Download Current Version
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:35 am
  
  Glad it was helpful, Jenn! And yes, I can add that to the list for future tutorials. Here’s a quick step by step though so you don’t have to wait:
  
  1. Install and activate the File Manager plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.
  2. From the file manager, go to wp-content > themes >, then select Divi and then click the Download button from the file manager toolbar. (if you hover over each of the icons in the toolbar, it will tell you what icon does what). It will zip the Divi folder and download it automatically 🙂
  Reply
  - Jenn on October 21, 2019 at 1:39 pm
    
    Thank you, Tim!
    Reply
Gilbert Röhrborn on October 18, 2019 at 10:28 am

Until now, i have no problems with the update
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:32 am
  
  That’s great to hear!!
  Reply
Johannes Berggreen on October 23, 2019 at 5:03 am

Replay
Thanks for the show. Very helpful. I’ll be back 😉
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 23, 2019 at 10:18 am
  
  You’re very welcome! Sounds great 🙂
  Reply
Mark Woodruff on October 23, 2019 at 3:46 pm

Replay!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 23, 2019 at 4:44 pm
  
  Thanks Mark! 🙂
  Reply
Mathilde on October 24, 2019 at 7:49 am

Thank you so much! This was really helpful 🙂
Reply
- Tim Strifler on October 24, 2019 at 2:28 pm
  
  You’re welcome!! 🙂
  Reply
Mary Janson on October 31, 2019 at 11:52 am

Replay 10/31/19

Thank you for keeping this available!
Reply
- Tim Strifler on November 6, 2019 at 10:14 am
  
  You’re welcome! 🙂
  Reply
DannyQ7 on May 28, 2021 at 12:19 pm

I got divi and it’s great
Reply
- Tim Strifler on June 17, 2021 at 3:10 pm
  
  Divi is the BEST 🙂
  Reply

How to Update Your Divi Website SAFELY to Divi 4.0

Step by Step Guide on How to Update Your Divi Website Safely

77 Comments

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