Try backing up your theme files manually first via FTP.
Go to /wp-content/themes/ and download your theme folder to your computer.
Make sure you have a complete copy of your theme folder as a back up available on your computer. Then manually download the updated version of your current theme from their site.
Best to child theme the updated theme at this stage before you proceed with the next stage.
You should now have both, a new version of the theme and your old customized theme on your computer. If you remember the changes you made to your theme, then simply copy and paste the code snippets from old theme to the new version.
If not, try to use a comparison tool to identify the changes between your old files and the newly updated files of your updated theme.
Hope these help.
]]>Also, when updating the parent theme, is it best to completely delete the old version first before uploading, or just overwrite the theme folder?
Thanks!
]]>I would rename the old parent theme directory then upload the new one. Leave the old one accessible just in case. Otherwise if you have no choice then delete the old one completely because some upload programs occasionally glitch when overwriting files, not sure why, they just do.
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