This tutorial will show you how to upgrade from Sydney to Sydney Pro with your license key, and how to install Sydney Pro manually if your site doesn’t offer the one-step upgrade.
Requirements:
- You’ll need an active Sydney Pro license
- Ensure that you’ve installed the latest version of Sydney to upgrade from the Sydney dashboard
- You’ll need an administrator account on a single-site WordPress install, since the one-step upgrade isn’t available on multisite networks
Before you get started, make sure you’ve bought Sydney Pro from the Sydney theme page. Not sure which edition you need? See the differences between Sydney and Sydney Pro.
Finding Your License Key
Log in to your aThemes account, open the Licenses section, and click the key icon. Copy the key that appears.
These steps are also in the Sydney dashboard. After you click Enter your license key (covered in the next section), click Where do I find my license key? to see them.
Upgrading to Sydney Pro With Your License Key
In your WordPress admin area, go to Sydney » Theme Dashboard and open the Settings tab. In the Get Sydney Pro card, click Enter your license key.
Paste your license key into the field and click Install & activate.
Sydney checks your key with aThemes first, and the button shows a spinner while it does. Once the key is accepted, a popup shows the progress, first Installing Sydney Pro… and then Activating theme…. Keep the window open until it’s done. You can’t close the popup while it’s working.
When it’s finished, you’ll see Sydney Pro Installed Successfully. Click OK to open the Sydney Pro dashboard, or use one of the links in the popup.
- Starter Sites: Import a ready-made site design. If the aThemes Starter Sites plugin isn’t active yet, this link installs and activates it first.
- Template Builder: Turns on the Template Builder module and opens it, so you can build custom headers, footers, and layouts.
- Pro Modules: Opens the list of Sydney Pro modules on the dashboard’s Home tab.
What Changes When You Upgrade
Sydney Pro is now your active theme, which you can confirm in Appearance » Themes.
Your content, settings, and license come with you.
- Your content: Posts, pages, and media aren’t touched.
- Your Customizer settings: Sydney Pro copies them from Sydney the first time it’s activated on your site.
- Your license: It’s already active, so you don’t need to enter the key again. To check, go to Sydney » Theme Dashboard » Settings. Under Sydney Pro License, the License Status shows Active.
If Sydney Pro 4.3.1 or later is already installed on your site, the upgrade uses that copy and skips the download. An older copy is replaced with the latest version.
Installing Sydney Pro Manually
The Enter your license key link only appears when your site can finish the upgrade by itself. You won’t see it in these cases.
- Your site is part of a WordPress multisite network.
- You’re using a Sydney child theme, or Sydney is installed in a folder with a different name than
sydney(for example, a copy downloaded from GitHub). - You aren’t logged in as an administrator who can install and switch themes.
- Your site blocks theme installs, for example with
DISALLOW_FILE_MODSinwp-config.php, and Sydney Pro 4.3.1 or later isn’t already installed.
If one of these applies, install Sydney Pro by uploading it instead.
- Log in to your aThemes account, open the Downloads section, and download the Sydney Pro zip file. If your browser unzips downloads automatically, turn that off first, since WordPress needs the .zip file.
- In your WordPress admin area, go to Appearance » Themes and click Add Theme, then Upload Theme.
- Click Choose File, select the zip file, and click Install Now. When it’s installed, click Activate.
- Go to Sydney » Theme Dashboard » Settings, paste your license key, and click Activate to get automatic updates.
Sydney Pro copies Customizer settings only from the Sydney theme itself. If you use a child theme, or Sydney is installed under another folder name, those settings don’t carry over.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below, we’ve addressed some of the most common questions about upgrading to Sydney Pro.
What does “Sorry, but the key you entered is not valid” mean?
aThemes didn’t recognize the key as a Sydney Pro license. Copy it again from the Licenses section of your aThemes account and check that nothing extra was pasted with it. When you click OK, your key stays in the field so you can correct it. Nothing is installed until the key is accepted.
What happens if my license has expired?
The popup tells you the license has expired, for example “Your Sydney Pro license has expired. Please renew it in your aThemes account, then try again.” Renew your license in your aThemes account, then enter the key again. If you see “This Sydney Pro license has been disabled. Please contact aThemes support.”, get in touch with aThemes support. For more details, see what happens when your license expires.
Why do I see “Could not reach the aThemes licensing service”?
Your server couldn’t connect to aThemes to check the key. This happens when the connection times out or is blocked, for example by a firewall on your host. Try again in a few minutes. If it keeps happening, ask your host to allow connections to athemes.com, or install Sydney Pro manually.
Why do I see “Your session has expired”?
The full message reads “Your session has expired. Please reload the page and try again.” You were logged out, or the page was open for too long. Reload the page, log in again if WordPress asks you to, and enter your key again.
What should I do if the installation fails?
The popup shows Installation failed, the step that failed (Failed while: installing Sydney Pro or Failed while: activating theme), and the reason. Click Try again. Your license is already active on the site, so this only repeats the install and activation. These are the most common reasons.
- “Your server stopped before this step finished. This usually means it ran out of time or memory. Please try again, or install Sydney Pro manually from your aThemes account.”
- “Could not access the file system. Please check file permissions and try again, or install Sydney Pro manually from your aThemes account.” This shows when your host asks for FTP details before WordPress can install themes.
- An error message from WordPress itself, for example when the download fails or Sydney Pro needs a newer version of PHP or WordPress.
If it keeps failing, install Sydney Pro manually. Your license is already active on the site, so Sydney Pro starts out licensed when you upload it by hand.
I used Sydney Pro on this site before. Will my newer Sydney settings carry over?
No. Sydney Pro copies your Sydney settings only the first time it’s activated on a site. Changes you made in Sydney after that stay in Sydney, so check Appearance » Customize after you upgrade.
Can I go back to the free Sydney theme?
Yes. Sydney stays installed after the upgrade. Go to Appearance » Themes and activate Sydney. Each theme keeps its own Customizer settings, so changes you make in Sydney Pro don’t carry back to Sydney.
That’s it! You’ve upgraded your site from Sydney to Sydney Pro with your license key.
Next, would you like to start using Sydney Pro’s features? Check out our guide on getting started with Sydney Pro to learn more.
