Automatic upgrade – how to disable fresh install of default theme

I’m not sure if you can prevent this with auto updates enabled, but I have disabled auto updates in my wp-config.php because I don’t like having updates done without my knowledge, and that seems to have stopped the themes from being added back in when I manually run updates:

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

I am not an expert by any means, but I believe that if you create what they call a child theme and put your customizations in that; then when your Theme is updated you will not lose any customizations.

At least I think that would help you.

WordPress Child Themes

You are all right but if i delete the default theme it should not be installed again on version upgrade. This also happens even when automatic update is disabled and you install a “new” version as upgrade over an existing installtion. So wordpress should know that this is only an upgrade an not install this theme anymore when it has been deleted before.

So anyway thanks for help

I thought that’s what you were asking. It must do it only with a major update; e.g., 4.1 to 4.2, because my sites with automatic updates disabled haven’t had Twenty Fifteen installed once more after I deleted it and updated from 4.2 to 4.2.1, though I think it did get installed when I went from 4.1 to 4.2.

Major updates will indeed put it back if it is missing, but only if it is missing.

The default theme is hardcoded into WordPress as a “fallback” theme. If anything happens to your active theme, such as it being inaccessible or missing or whatever, then WordPress will switch to the default theme instead, in an attempt to at least show something to your viewers. Without the default theme, it has no fallback, and will just show errors or a whitescreen for your site.

If you want to use a different default theme, then you can code it into your wp-config.php file with a define, like so:

define( 'WP_DEFAULT_THEME', 'twentyfifteen' );

“Major updates will indeed put it back if it is missing, but only if it is missing.”

Is it supposed to put back Twenty Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen? We never use any of them and would prefer to only see one come back, not all three.

Would it be possible to include only 2015 and not re-install 2013 and 2014?