How to Update Your Divi Website SAFELY to Divi 4.0

by | 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

      • 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
    • Sam Korede on October 21, 2019 at 1:22 am

      This theme is awesome.

      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
  4. Debbie Durham on October 17, 2019 at 11:12 am

    replay

    Reply
  5. NATASHA SUTTON on October 17, 2019 at 11:12 am

    Replay

    Reply
    • Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 12:06 pm

      Great, thanks for watching Natasha 🙂

      Reply
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. artm on October 17, 2019 at 11:27 am

    replay

    Reply
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. Cham on October 17, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    Replay

    Reply
  16. Linda Speight on October 17, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    replay

    Reply
  19. Jeferson on October 17, 2019 at 1:31 pm

    Hi,

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

    Regards.

    Reply
  21. Graham on October 17, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    Replay. Thanks Tim.

    Reply
    • Tim Strifler on October 17, 2019 at 4:49 pm

      You’re welcome, thanks for watching!

      Reply
  23. Don on October 17, 2019 at 8:08 pm

    Replay

    Reply
    • Tim Strifler on October 18, 2019 at 10:38 am

      You’re welcome! Thanks for watching! 🙂

      Reply
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. Lorenzo on October 18, 2019 at 2:19 am

    Replay

    Reply
  28. 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?

    Reply
    • 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
  29. 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
  31. 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
  33. Mathilde on October 24, 2019 at 7:49 am

    Thank you so much! This was really helpful 🙂

    Reply
  34. Mary Janson on October 31, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Replay 10/31/19

    Thank you for keeping this available!

    Reply
  35. DannyQ7 on May 28, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    I got divi and it’s great

    Reply

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