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Twenty Eleven Theme Update Guide: Troubleshooting Common Upgrade Issues

25 threads Sep 9, 2025 Theme → Twenty eleven

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Updating the Twenty Eleven theme is a common task for WordPress site owners, but it can sometimes lead to unexpected problems. Based on community reports, this guide covers the most frequent issues users encounter during updates and provides clear solutions to resolve them.

Common Issues and Solutions

1. Update Fails with "Cannot Remove Old Theme" or Permission Errors

Problem: The automated update fails with errors like "cannot remove old theme" or "Destination directory for file streaming does not exist or is not writable."

Solution: This is often a file permissions issue. The most reliable fix is to perform a manual update:

  1. Download the latest version of the Twenty Eleven theme from the official WordPress theme directory.
  2. Access your site via FTP or your hosting control panel's file manager.
  3. Navigate to wp-content/themes/.
  4. Delete the existing twentyeleven folder. Important: This is safe if you are using a child theme, as your modifications are stored separately. Do NOT delete your child theme folder.
  5. Upload the new, unzipped twentyeleven folder from the downloaded zip file.

2. Custom Modifications Are Lost After an Update

Problem: If you modified the original Twenty Eleven theme files directly (instead of using a child theme), your changes will be overwritten during an update.

Solution: The only way to safely preserve customizations is to use a child theme. If you have already modified the parent theme, you can still create a child theme to save your work for future updates:

  1. If you no longer have the original theme files, you can download your exact previous version of Twenty Eleven from the WordPress theme downloads page. Older versions are archived and can be found by appending the version number to the URL (e.g., .../theme/twentyeleven.1.5.zip).
  2. Compare your modified files against the original files using a code comparison tool to identify your changes.
  3. Create a child theme and move all your custom code into the appropriate files within the child theme directory.

3. Language Files Reset to English

Problem: After an update, the theme reverts to English, losing its translation.

Solution: The update process overwrites files in the parent theme's directory, including language files. To prevent this:

  1. Place your translation files (.po and .mo) in your child theme's directory within a /languages folder.
  2. Alternatively, you can place them in the global WordPress language directory at wp-content/languages/themes/. This location is not touched by theme updates. The files should be named in the format twentyeleven-de_DE.mo (for German, for example).
  3. You can find up-to-date community translations on the official WordPress Translate platform.

4. Needing to Review Changes Before Updating

Problem: Users want to know what changes are in a new version before updating to assess potential impacts.

Solution: While themes do not have a changelog tab like plugins, you can review the code changes for any version:

  • Visit the Twenty Eleven Trac timeline.
  • To compare two specific versions, modify the URL: https://themes.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=/twentyeleven/[old-version]&new_path=/twentyeleven/[new-version]. For example, to see changes from 1.6 to 1.7, you would use old_path=/twentyeleven/1.6&new_path=/twentyeleven/1.7.

Best Practices for a Smooth Update

  • Always Use a Child Theme: This is the most critical step for protecting your customizations from being overwritten during any update.
  • Backup Your Site: Always create a full backup of your website's files and database before performing any update.
  • Update in a Staging Environment First: If possible, test the theme update on a copy of your site to ensure compatibility with your plugins and custom code.

By following these troubleshooting steps and best practices, you can update the Twenty Eleven theme with confidence and avoid common pitfalls.

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