A Guide to Updating Your WordPress Site
WordPress is a widely adopted, open-source CMS with lots of user testing and ongoing software evolution. The ecosystem is always growing more complicated and more capable through new version releases and smaller patches multiple times per year.
Most WordPress sites are built on the PHP programming language. PHP is also updated regularly, though slightly less often than WordPress.
Developers are constantly creating new plugins and patching existing ones. Often, these patches are only to keep up with changes in recent WordPress/PHP versions.
When a site “breaks” it is often the result of an incompatibility between WordPress, PHP and plugins.
Here’s how to keep your WordPress site ship-shape. We recommend updating every month.
A Quick Note Before You Start
You might want to wait a bit before updating to the latest versions of WordPress and PHP if they have just been released. This allows time for the community to identify and resolve any initial bugs or compatibility issues such as:
- Initial stability issues—new releases, especially major ones, might have bugs that initial testing didn’t catch. Waiting allows the developer community time to discover these issues, and subsequent patches can be released to fix them.
- Plugin and theme incompatibility—some plugin and theme developers may not immediately update their products. Delaying updates gives these developers time to ensure compatibility with the latest versions, minimizing the risk of issues on your site.
- Security considerations—although updates typically include security enhancements, they can also introduce new vulnerabilities. Waiting ensures any immediate security risks discovered post-release are addressed.
You can find official release notes and updates on the WordPress News website.
You might also want to check up on any community feedback to recent version releases. The “nerd mavens”—we bestow this term with love 🙂 —are usually pretty quick to provide insights into any potential problems or conflicts introduced by the new version. If the nerds are finding problems, give it a beat before updating.
If feasible, apply updates on a staging version of your site before going live. This can help identify any conflicts or issues in a safe environment.
This guide presumes that you have a basic understanding of the WordPress admin panel and your website/domain hosting platforms.
Preparation and Backup
Always begin by ensuring you have a recent, valid backup of the WordPress site in place. Updates can sometimes disrupt site functionality. A backup ensures you can restore the site if something goes wrong during the updates.
If we built your site, we will likely have installed a backup plugin. If you’re running your own show, you may need to install one yourself. There are a number of options available, including UpdraftPlus, VaultPress (part of Jetpack), BackupBuddy and Duplicator.
Verify your FTP Access: if an update disrupts site functionality beyond what can be managed through the WordPress dashboard, FTP access becomes essential. This will allow you to manually restore files using backups or adjust configurations directly on the server if the WordPress dashboard is inaccessible or if the problem is server-related.
Updates
The recommended order for updating a WordPress site is:
PHP → Plugins → WordPress Core → Themes
Update PHP
- PHP is the programming language that most WordPress sites are built on. It’s critical to ensure that PHP is compatible with your WordPress version and plugins.
- To check the PHP version compatibility with your current WordPress and plugins, navigate to Tools/Site Health in the WordPress admin dashboard.
- Apply any available PHP updates through your hosting control panel. Contact your hosting provider if you need clarification on this process.
- In Site Health, you’ll also see critical issues (items with potentially high impact on performance or security) and recommended improvements (non-critical but beneficial adjustments for site performance and user experience).
- After updating PHP, check the site. If there are any issues, roll back the update through your hosting provider.
Update Plugins
Plugins within the WordPress ecosystem are constantly evolving. Developers regularly release new plugins and update existing ones to maintain compatibility with the latest WordPress and PHP versions.
Plugins interact with themes and the WordPress core, so having them current helps prevent compatibility issues, especially if a theme or WordPress core update relies on recent plugin versions.
In the WordPress admin dashboard, click on Plugins. In the list, you’ll see a notification next to any plugin with an available update.
The sequence in which plugins are updated can have an impact. Start with smaller, less impactful plugins, then move on to the more critical ones (like Elementor). Of course, to do this properly, you’ll need to be familiar with the plugin configuration.
- Simple Plugins—begin with smaller, less complex plugins. These are less likely to cause problems and can ensure smoother subsequent updates.
- Theme and Framework Plugins—update plugins associated with your theme or any framework next.
- Core Functional Plugins—move on to essential plugins that handle critical functionalities like security, caching, or SEO.
- Complex/Custom Plugins—, update your most complex or custom plugins. These may have specific dependencies or potential for conflicts. If installed, backup Elementor, then Elementor Pro at this point.
- Add-ons/Extensions
- A plugin add-on is a supplementary software component that enhances or extends the functionality of a main plugin. Add-ons are typically used to add specific features or integrations that the primary plugin doesn’t include by default. E.g.: Ninja Forms – Layout & Styles is an add-on to the primary plugin Ninja Forms.
- When dealing with plugin add-on updates, it’s generally best to update the primary plugin first. This ensures that any changes or improvements in the main plugin are in place, reducing the risk of conflicts or errors when updating the add-ons.
Update plugins one at a time to isolate any issues. After each update, test your site for functionality and performance.
Update Themes
A theme is a collection of files that controls the design and layout of a website, including visuals like color schemes, typography, and layouts for different pages.
Themes rely on plugin functionalities, and having plugins updated first minimizes the risk of conflicts with theme elements.
In the WordPress admin dashboard, click on Appearance/Themes. In the list, you’ll see a notification next to any plugin with an available update.
Keep both the active theme and the most recent default theme as a backup. Delete any other inactive themes.
Update WordPress Core
WordPress is a dynamic, open-source CMS that is frequently updated. These updates, including major releases and minor patches, are essential for security, performance and new features. Minor patches are auto-enabled by default. This can be disabled through a plugin or by editing the site’s wp-config.php file (which we don’t recommend messing with unless you know what you’re doing).
In the WordPress admin dashboard, click on Updates. If an update is available, you’ll see a notification here.
Initiate the WordPress update by clicking the provided button. Do not close your browser until the update completes.
Check the site.
Intermediate and Ongoing Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Testing and Verification
Give your website a quick check after each update (WordPress, plugins and PHP). This helps catch any compatibility issues early.
Look for any performance issues or errors on both the frontend and backend.
If you encounter problems, use your backups to revert to the previous state. Investigate and resolve the issue before attempting the update again.
Ongoing Monitoring
Regularly check for updates and maintain your site to ensure security and performance. Keep a consistent update schedule and monitor site functionality and user feedback.
Troubleshooting
If an update causes a problem and the WordPress dashboard is still accessible, you may be able to disable or roll back the last plugin you updated to a previous version. If that fixes the problem, it’s probably ok to simply leave the older version in place until the next time you update the site. Sometimes, plugin developers are slow to apply patches to reconcile changes to WordPress, PHP or other plugins. They may have it fixed by next month—just remember which plugin caused the trouble!
If the site isn’t working properly with the older version, you may need to seek support from the plugin developer.
Pretty much the same thing with WordPress or PHP—if rolling back fixes the problem, just leave the older version in place. We used to intentionally give it a beat before updating if a new version had just come out. It’s less of a problem these days.
If an update disrupts site functionality beyond what can be managed through the WordPress dashboard, FTP server access becomes essential. This will allow you to manually restore files using backups or adjust configurations directly on the server. For this reason, we require FTP access if we are providing website administration services