Category: WordPress • Est. reading time: 2 minutes
Updates are not busywork. They patch security holes, fix bugs, and keep everything working together as WordPress moves forward. The good news is that WordPress core, your plugins, and your themes all update from the same place, and you can automate most of it. Here is how.
One Place to Find Everything
Go to Dashboard, then Updates. This screen gathers everything waiting for you: the WordPress version itself, plugins, and themes, all in one list. It is the fastest way to see what needs attention.
Update WordPress Core
On the Updates screen, if a new version of WordPress is available, click the button to update to it. Small security and maintenance releases usually install themselves in the background, so the ones you click are typically the larger feature updates. Back up your site before a major version update.
Update Plugins and Themes
You can update these two ways. From the Updates screen, tick what you want and update in bulk. Or from the Plugins screen (and the Themes screen), each item with an update shows an update now link right under it. Both do the same thing.
Turn On Automatic Updates
If you would rather not think about it, let WordPress handle updates for you. On the Plugins and Themes screens, each item has an Enable auto-updates link. For WordPress core, small releases already update automatically, and you can switch on automatic updates for major versions too, right from the Updates screen.
Our Advice
Back up your site before big updates, and if a plugin, theme, or the core version is critical to your business, test the site afterward. For important sites, update on a staging copy first. On our managed hosting, we handle updates and backups so this is one less thing on your plate.
Need a Hand?
We teach WordPress live and one-on-one at allydrez.com/learn-how-to-use-wordpress, or we will manage your site for you. Reach us at support@allydrez.com or 1-321-209-2004.