Managing auto updates in WordPress is essential to maintaining a secure, updated website while ensuring smooth functionality. However, simply enabling automatic updates without supervision can lead to problems such as compatibility issues or broken features caused by theme or plugin updates. At DotsDen, we emphasize balancing automatic updates with proper manual control to prevent unexpected issues. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about WordPress auto-updates and how to manage them efficiently.
Why Are Auto Updates Important?
Automatic updates help protect your website from security breaches and malware by ensuring your site has the latest security fixes and features. By default, WordPress performs core updates for minor releases, which include security updates, bug fixes, and performance improvements. However, leaving all updates to the auto-update feature without oversight can lead to theme incompatibilities or plugin issues, especially after major updates.
Types of WordPress Auto Updates
WordPress performs several types of auto-updates, which can be categorized as follows:
- Core updates: These include both major updates (e.g., WordPress version 6.0) and minor updates (e.g., version 6.0.1 for security updates). While minor core updates are applied automatically, major versions require manual intervention for safety.
(Image-1: WordPress Updates section marked in red, showing core updates, plugin updates, and theme updates) - Plugin updates: Regular plugin updates are crucial for fixing bugs, adding features, and addressing security vulnerabilities. Some plugin developers release automatic plugin updates, but reviewing updates manually is important to avoid conflicts.
- Theme updates: Keeping your themes updated is essential to avoid security breaches or broken designs. Premium themes usually come with theme auto-updates, but you can manually control when and how they are updated.
- Translation updates: If your website uses multiple languages, Translation files may be automatically updated to keep your language file current with the latest versions of WordPress.
How to Manage Auto Updates in WordPress?
Managing WordPress auto-updates allows you to control which updates are performed automatically and which ones require your approval. Here are the ways you can manage them:
Managing Auto Updates via WP Dashboard
WordPress makes it easy to manage updates through its Updates menu in the dashboard. To access this:
- Go to Dashboard > Updates.
- Here, you can enable or disable automatic updates for plugins and themes.
- You can manually update plugins, themes, and even core files by clicking Update Now for each available item.
(Image-2: WordPress Admin Dashboard > Updates section marked in red, displaying available plugin and theme updates)
Configuring Automatic Updates in wp-config.php File
For advanced users who want more control, the wp-config.php file is where you can enable or disable specific auto-update features. Add the following code snippet to manage automatic updates:
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php define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false); // Disable core updates |
You can also control the plugin auto updates and theme auto-updates using similar code modifications.
Using Plugins to Manage Automatic Updates
If you want a more streamlined way to manage updates, using a plugin like Advanced Automatic Updates can give you fine-grained control. These plugins allow you to:
- Automatically update minor core releases and security patches.
- Manually control major core updates to avoid potential issues.
- Schedule updates for regular updates and even set up automatic backups before any updates are applied.
Best Practices for Managing Auto Updates
While automatic updates are convenient, they can sometimes cause security issues or theme incompatibilities if not managed properly. Here are some best practices to ensure smooth updates:
Always Backup Before Updates
Before any major update, always perform a database backup and a full backup of your wp-content folder. This protects your site in case the update process causes real pain by breaking your website.
Backup plugins like UpdraftPlus or Duplicator can automatically create backup files before each update.
Disable Auto Updates for Specific Plugins and Themes
If you have premium themes or plugins that don’t fully support automatic plugin updates, it’s a good idea to disable auto-updates for those specific components. You can do this through your control panel or using a piece of code in the wp-config.php file:
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php add_filter('auto_update_plugin', '__return_false'); add_filter('auto_update_theme', '__return_false'); |
(Image-3: wp-config.php file marked in red, with a code snippet to disable the automatic plugin and theme updates)
Monitor Updates for Plugins and Themes
Even if you disable auto-update plugins, it’s critical to manually check for plugin updates or theme updates to avoid falling behind on important security releases or update features.
WP Engine or other hosting services offer automated email notifications about available updates, ensuring that you stay informed without checking the dashboard constantly.
Resolving Update Issues
Despite your best efforts, some automatic updates can cause unexpected problems. Common issues include compatibility conflicts between plugins or themes, broken lines of code, and server configuration errors.
How to Fix Common Update Problems?
- Revert to a previous version: If an update causes issues, use your backup solutions to revert to a previous version of your core files, plugins, or themes. This can be done via your file manager or FTP access.
(Image-4: File manager showing WordPress files and the wp-content directory marked in red) - Check for database issues: Sometimes, an update can cause problems with your database structure. Ensure you perform a database upgrade if prompted after a major core update to avoid errors related to your MySQL database.
Disable Automatic Updates – When Should You Consider It?
While enabling automatic updates is beneficial for minor updates and security improvements, there are cases where you may want to disable automatic updates altogether. For instance:
- If you run a custom content website with lots of custom code that could be broken by an auto-update.
- You are concerned about security vulnerabilities introduced by frequent updates.
- You want complete control over when and how your site is updated to avoid plugin incompatibilities.
Use a cron job or scheduling tool to regularly check for updates instead, ensuring that your site stays up-to-date without being vulnerable to the risks of automatic updates.
Final Thoughts
Managing WordPress auto-updates effectively helps strike a balance between security and control. By customizing the auto-update feature, performing manual updates when necessary, and using plugins like Advanced Automatic Updates, you can ensure your website stays secure and functional without any hiccups.
For more in-depth guidance on managing WordPress auto-updates, check out DotsDen’s complete guide and our recommended backup plugins to safeguard your site.
(Image-5: Control panel showing available backup solutions and the option to restore a backup)
