WordPress Plugin Update Instructions
FOR THOSE DIY’S WHO WANT TO MANAGE WORDPRESS PLUGIN UPDATES YOURSELF
If you’re a web hosting client with Kat & Mouse and didn’t sign up for the update service with Flywheel, your web host, that means you will need to do the updates yourself. Kat & Mouse no longer does this because we can’t compete in price with Flywheel.
Here’s a training video.
- Be sure to put this task on your calendar to check for updates at least once each month.
- Make sure there is a current backup first. There always is at Flywheel unless you changed your website since the last backup. That includes taking in sales and form submissions. If you don’t store those on your site and you didn’t make edits or add pages, you’re good to go.
- Also, you should be the admin of your website. Most business owners neglect to follow through on this because the email they need to respond to comes from WordPress and they think it’s spam. If you’re a Kat & Mouse client, after you sign up for hosting, we will initiate another request from WordPress. Look for that email. If you are the admin already, you’re set. This is important because Flywheel will notify whomever is the admin if plugins are out of date and are in danger of causing a security breach.
Most of the time running updates is a piece of cake, but I’ve seen sites completely break apart because maybe WordPress wasn’t ready for a plugin update, or vice versa, maybe one plugin wasn’t ready for the WordPress update. This is why having a backup is essential. It’s also a very good reason to have a professional take care of this for you; in this case that would be Flywheel. At $8/mo, it’s a no-brainer to me, but I didn’t want to make it a requirement for those who love DIY.
So go for it. Just be aware of the dangers of neglecting this. If you don’t keep your plugins up to date, you open up yourself to possible hacks.
Repairs can be costly. So do take this seriously. It’s not hard. Just don’t forget!
