Problem

You want to upgrade your templates to the latest code.

Solution

With one notable exception, the Template Backup and Refresh plugin, shipped with Movable Type 3.2, is the easiest way to upgrade your templates to the latest default code.

Discussion

Once you have completed the upgrade of the system software, you may wish to also upgrade your templates in order to take advantage of the latest capabilities of the system. While the developers of Movable Type attempt to maintain backwards compatibility with previous versions, some behavioral changes may result in incorrect display of your published content.

Restoring all templates in a weblog

If you want to refresh all current templates in a blog, you can do so via the System Overview weblog listing. Just select the weblog from that listing which you wish to refresh and the dropdown option "Refresh template(s)" and all existing templates in your blog will be backed up and refreshed to the latest default templates.

In addition to refreshing all of your current templates, this method will also add in any missing default templates such as the Site Javascript template for those who are upgrading from version prior to v3.2

Restoring templates individually

If you'd like to restore a particular template or limited subset of templates to the latest default code, navigate to the weblog's template listing and select the template(s) you wish to refresh. After that, select the "Refresh Template(s)" option from the dropdown in the action bar menu. The selected templates will be updated to the latest code for your version.