WordPress Updates and Plugin Management

Managing Updates Successfully

Implementing a managed updates process and policy provides a good balance between staying up-to-date and the mayhem of updates gone wrong.

What Do Managed WordPress Updates Look Like?

This is an update process where updates are performed on a duplicate of your live website (staging website) at regular intervals such as monthly. The plugin/theme/core changelog should be checked to see what the reasons for an update are. If they are not bug or security fixes, and not features you need, then it may be safer to not update at this time.

Our Recommended WordPress Update Process

This is the process we use to update WordPress websites.
You can follow our recommended process, and do the updates yourself.
However, if you're not confident, or maybe don't have time, then contact us to carry out the update process for you.

1. Staging Website Setup

• Create a backup of your live website.
• Setup a staging website as a duplicate of your live website.

2. Core WordPress Update

• Update the core WordPress application to the latest version.
• Check website operation.
• If any errors, debug to locate problem and fix or rollback update/s.

3. Update WordPress Plugins

• Update all WordPress-related plugins.
• Check website operation.
• If any errors, debug to locate problem and fix or rollback update/s.

4. Update WooCommerce Plugins

• Update WooCommerce and WooCommerce-related plugins.
• Check website operation.
• Test online shop operation.
• If any errors, debug to locate problem and fix or rollback update/s.

5. Update Website Theme

• Update website theme.
• Check website opperation.
• Test online shop operation.
• If any errors, debug to locate problem and fix or rollback update/s.

6. Live Website Update

• Backup live website database.
• Backup complete file system of live website.
• Add temporary maintenance page on live website while updates are applied.
• Implement any fixes from staging website onto live website.
• Apply all updates replicating the same version numbers as on updated staging website.
• Test overall website operation and integrity.
• Test the online shop operation including the order process.
• Remove temporary maintenance page.

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