You made a smart choice by choosing the WordPress website-building platform for your website development. It entitles you to benefits like ease of installation and setup, being simple and easy to use, lots of design options, built-in blog, mobile friendly, SEO friendly, cost-effective, etc. Moreover, it opens up a world of themes, plugins and possibilities for you.
Though WordPress is convenient for
website development , it comes with certain responsibilities. One of them is to ascertain your WordPress installation remains up-to-date. Software updates come frequently for it. As per experts, you need to apply updates as they are released. Doing so helps to improve your website’s security, destroy bugs and add features to it.
We may presume that clicking on the update button is the right thing to do. But have you thought about these questions? What could go wrong when you press the update button? Is there a potential for harm to your WordPress website?
Some incidents have taken place that make you think about such questions. One such incident is about a supply chain attack on multiple WordPress-related plugins. Hackers were able to infiltrate the code repository of each plugin. From there, hackers managed to add malicious code to otherwise legitimate software. After installation, the manipulated code led to the creation of a shadow administrator account. It is a frightening outcome.
Perhaps this scenario is not common. But it acts as a reminder for you to take precautions before going ahead with the installation of a WordPress update.
Here are some noteworthy tips that will help to keep your website safe at the time of updating WordPress.
Find out what is changing
You are given the option to update the WordPress core, themes and plugins in an automatic manner. But the automatic mode puts you at risk for a supply chain attack.
There is no harm in automatically updating minor versions of WordPress core. These versions often come with security fixes. But when it comes to plugins and themes, updating them manually is the safer option.
You will be keen to know what is changing and why it is changing. Doing a little bit of research will reveal everything you need to know.
First of all, look at the particular updates that are available for your website. Visit Dashboard > Updates to view what updates are available.
Next, pay attention to any theme and plugin updates. Plugins provide version details. Press on the link next to each item to view them.
A support forum is provided for the plugins hosted on WordPress.org. Check them to observe if other users have reported issues related to them. You may also see notes from the developer.
It will take a little more research for items hosted somewhere else. You can check their documentation, GitHub repository or private support forum.
An understanding of these details will aid you in making an informed decision. As an example, if you see bug reports, you should hold off on updating.
In case, there are any concerns in this regard, feel free to ask questions to WordPress specialists. Knowledge empowers you to make the right WordPress-related updating decisions.
Take your website’s backup frequently
Apart from causing a potential security issue, a software update could also lead to other problems. Your website may encounter a compatibility issue. Alternatively, an update might initiate a conflict with another theme or plugin. Furthermore, there is a likelihood of your WordPress website update failing.
It is recommended to take your website’s backup in advance before applying updates to it. Knowing that you can roll them back if required is going to give you peace of mind.
Your web host may offer backup capabilities. If he does not provide them, you can use a backup plugin instead. These options are generally seamless. Opt for one that fits into your desired workflow.
Preference is given to a tool with the ability to create incremental backups. The feature helps to improve the efficiency of both backing up and restoring your website.
Moreover, don’t miss backing up your website’s database. Some of the WordPress updates can cause changes in the database as well.
Test every update for issues
Don’t just update and walk away. You will never know about what kind of trouble you left behind on the website. You will get to know about the problem when a client discovers it.
Make sure to test updates after installing them. Ideally, you will be provided with a staging environment for work. This gives you the freedom to do testing of WordPress updates without impacting users.
You may be wondering what you should test. It depends on the particular kind of updates installed on your website.
If you have updated your WooCommerce website, look at its products. Add a particular item to your website’s cart and do testing of the checkout process. Use the WordPress dashboard for editing a product or setting on the website. Be attentive to anything that doesn’t work as expected.
Follow this same pattern for other items on the website. Find out what could be impacted by the update. Afterwards, you are required to perform the testing of the front end as well the back end of your website.
You can make use of your browser’s developer tools for help. As an example, the console tab will alert you about issues like JavaScript errors and 404. Such issues can affect the performance and stability of your website.
The process will take some time. You can rest easy knowing that everything is working in the correct manner.
After sharing with you valuable tips for safe updation of Your WordPress website, let’s impart your knowledge about the steps involved with the safe update process of your WordPress website.
The Steps for updating your WordPress website safely
(i) Disable Auto-Updates :-
Auto-updates appear like quite a nifty option. They can save you 5 minutes as you are not doing manual updates. In case any problems arise, troubleshooting them can take hours or even days.
There are external factors that can cause these problems. Some of these factors are the availability of WordPress’s repo update release, the sequence of auto updates and your site’s connection with the WordPress repository or external repository in the event of premium plugins. The functionality of your server and potential compatibility issues are the other factors. Your PHP version, PHP memory limit and everything else that comes under the server environment, etc. are some other factors.
Auto-Updates are enabled or disabled by default on the basis of your hosting service provider. There is no general rule on this. There are some hosting providers that let you control this option from your hosting panel.
You need to learn whether auto-updates are enabled on your WordPress website or not. If you are unable to make it out on your own, you better seek support from your hosting provider.
If you are resourceful and can manage the WordPress environment yourself, you can change the existing directives in your wp-config.php file. Alternatively, you can add a new one to disable the auto-updates of the WordPress core itself.
// Disable WordPress core auto-updates.
define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE’, false );
define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE’, false );
On the other hand, commands for disabling the WordPress theme and plugin auto-updates have to be added to the functions.php file of a child theme. As an example, OceanWP has a readily usable child theme that can be installed with a single click.
// Disable WP themes auto-updates.
add_filter( ‘auto_update_theme’, ‘__return_false’ );
add_filter( ‘auto_update_theme’, ‘__return_false’ );
// Disable WP plugins auto-updates.
add_filter( ‘auto_update_theme’, ‘__return_false’ );
add_filter( ‘auto_update_theme’, ‘__return_false’ );
If you are maintaining many WordPress websites professionally, you can use a plugin like ManageWP . This WordPress plugin can track updates related to all your websites. As a result, you can control the order of updates, which particular plugins to update and on which specific websites.
(ii) Create a website backup with your hosting provider :-
The majority of hosting providers provide the option to create automatic and/or manual backups for websites.
Before updating anything on your website, always create its backup.
(iii) Create your website’s manual backup :-
Even if your hosting provider gives you the option to take backups, never rely only on this. Backups can also be broken while attempting to restore the data. For this reason, always devote some additional time for creating manual backups as well.
WPvivid, UpdraftPlus and All-in-One WP Migration are some WordPress plugins that you can use for the creation of manual website backups.
(iv) First test all updates :-
The correct and responsible update procedure is to test all updates on an isolated environment before updating your live website.
If it is possible, always first perform the testing of any update on a staging / test / localhost environment.
Many hosting service providers give the option to build staging sites. In the same way, many hosting service providers let you create additional sites on subdomains for free. Use those options that are available to you.
After you have performed all steps and ensured the updates will not cause issues on your live website, you can go ahead and update the live website directly.
If you don’t get any opportunity to test updates, then simply wait. Wait for some days or weeks and keep looking for the feedback provided by others that have tested updates on their end. Moreover, you can gather feedback by directly contacting the theme or plugin authors.
If the update is about resolving a critical error or involves a security patch, you are recommended not to wait for days or weeks. In this case, the updates need to be implemented urgently.
Let’s now know about how to update your live WordPress website in a professional manner.
How to update your live WordPress website professionally?
(i) Enable the Maintenance Mode :-
Plugin and theme updates can sometimes result in minor inconveniences and you do not want visitors coming to your website to witness the inconveniences. Before commencing with the update process, you need to put the website in the Maintenance mode.
Some hosting providers provide this option on the go. You can also use various plugins to get the same result. As an example, you can use the Maintenance plugin from SeedProd for this purpose.
(ii) First update your WordPress theme(s) :-
The majority of plugins are there to expand a theme’s functionality, particularly if they are a product from the same author.
Having said that, before updating plugins, make sure about the availability of theme updates through Appearance > Themes and first update the themes.
(iii) Update your WordPress plugins :-
After you have performed the theme update, it is time to update your WordPress plugins.
You may be using premium plugins that extend a WordPress theme’s functionality or another free or premium plugin. Whichever plugins you are using, you must follow this specific order for updating the plugins.
First update free plugins.
Then update premium plugins.
You can update plugins from your WordPress dashboard, Plugins > Installed Plugins.
If you feel a plugin update might hurt your website, then you can also do the following.
First, disable the plugin(s).
Update the plugin.
Then enable it back again.
In case, enabling the plugin breaks your website or results in a fatal error, you can disable that particular plugin from your hosting panel. Alternatively, you can just rename the plugin folder either by using the hosting file manager or through FTP.
(iv) Clear cache on levels :-
To correctly preview all changes, you need to clear all kinds of caching.
website if you use a caching plugin,
CDN if your website is connected to cloud services that also provide caching, and
browser including delete history, cookies, etc.
(v) Inspect your website :-
Inspect all pages of your website as well as the content on it to make sure nothing is missing.
In the same way, inspect specific functionalities like submitting forms, purchase options, etc. to ensure they are not broken. It is also best to perform testing of the functionalities on a staging site.
vi) Disable the Maintenance mode :-
If you find that everything is in order, just disable the Maintenance mode. Now you can enjoy the website.
After knowing about how to update your WordPress website professionally, let’s gain insights on the tips on how to professionally update your WordPress website with the OceanWP theme.
How to update your OceanWP website professionally?
Check if an OceanWP theme update is available through Appearance > Themes and update Ocean WP.
Before updating any other plugins, always first update the Ocean Extra plugin .
Update the left out free Ocean plugins on your site.
Update premium Ocean plugins on your site.
In case you encounter any problems, contact OceanWP for support.
In the meantime, you can solve any potential issues by rolling back the OceanWP theme or Ocean plugin versions.
Let’s now know about how to safely update a neglected WordPress website.
How to update a neglected WordPress website in a safe manner ?
A WordPress website is said to be neglected if it has not been updated for years.
As an example, your website is neglected if it is still running on versions 5.X.X or 4.X.X. Such websites were seen in 2023.
Neglecting updates is a bad thing primarily due to security and stability. Also, neglected websites lack new features.
Websites running on outdated WordPress versions will also stop displaying theme and plugin updates in your dashboard, just because your environment does not support them.
As an example, at this time, OceanWP gives support for the WordPress 5.6 version and above. If your WordPress versions are below that, then you have been missing out on many updates. The same is the case with all other themes and plugins.
So, how can you update a neglected WordPress website in a safe manner? The process consists of a few more steps, but it can be managed with a little bit of patience.
1. Build a complete back of your website,
2. Put the website in coming soon mode,
3. Through Appearance > Themes, switch to one of the default WordPress themes like TwentyTwentySeventeen. (You can install a theme solely for this purpose, then remove it afterward).
4. From Plugins > Installed Plugins, disable all plugins fully.
5. Through your WordPress dashboard, Dashboard > Updates, update your website’s WordPress version.
6. After updating your WordPress, wait for some time, so all left out updates start to populate.
7. From Appearance > Themes , update your WordPress theme and then activate it.
8. Through Plugins > Installed Plugins , update all the plugins one by one but do not yet activate any of them. See if these updates trigger more available update information, particularly for the premium plugins. Wait for some minutes, refresh the page again and check if you have got new update notices. If yes, then update plugins.
9. Start activating the plugins one by one.
10. Clear caching of your website on all levels.
11. Inspect your website and its content.
12. Disable your website’s Maintenance mode.
When it comes to applying updates on your WordPress website, we recommend safe updates, tests and even a delay. But we also strongly advise you not to ignore updates longer than two months.
Keeping your calm and updating and maintaining websites in a responsible manner will eventually lead to a happy website-building experience for you.
Let’s now put our focus on the kind of approach to be taken for updating WordPress.
Adopt a Holistic Approach to Updating WordPress
We all want convenience, particularly with mundane tasks. You may also want convenience with updating WordPress. The easy option is to click on the update button without giving a second thought.
But this puts your website at risk. Many things can go wrong. For this reason, it is worth paying attention at the time of updating your WordPress website.
Do some research about each update. Gain an understanding of what is changing. From here, you can gauge the potential impact of the concerned update.
In some instances, you may want to delay installing an update and that is fine. Only updates related to security should be considered an emergency.
Being proactive also involves keeping backups of the website. They will act as a safety net in case something goes wrong with your website. Moreover, it is recommended to you to do testing on a staging environment.
The utmost important thing is to give attention at the time of installing updates to your WordPress website. This cautious approach is in the interest of your website and users.
