How Often Should You Update Your WordPress Plugins?
Table of Contents
- Is Updating WordPress Plugins Necessary?
- The Most Important Question: How Often Should You Update Plugins?
- Best Practices for Updating WordPress Plugins
- What to Do If an Update Breaks Your Site
- Why Hire an Agency to Maintain and Update WordPress Plugins?
- Conclusion
- How WP Creative Helps with Plugin Updates?
WordPress is one of the most powerful website development platforms available in the market today.
While it offers great features and flexibility, it also comes with upkeep and maintenance requirements that need to be addressed to ensure it operates at peak performance.
This includes regularly updating the theme, the WordPress core framework itself, and the plugins.
In this article, we will discuss how often you should be updating your WordPress plugins to keep your site running smoothly.
Is Updating WordPress Plugins Necessary?
Marketing managers, website owners, and eCommerce store owners often ask us whether they really need to update their WordPress plugins or if their websites will continue to function properly without those updates.
Our response is always the same: it’s essential to update plugins just like you would with the new version of a mobile phone. If you stick with an old version, you may encounter security loopholes, slower performance, and miss out on new features offered by the latest operating systems or software—whether on Android or Apple.
WordPress plugins operate similarly.
Developers frequently introduce new features, close security loopholes, and improve performance when they release updates.
Therefore, it’s crucial to keep your plugins up to date to ensure that your website runs smoothly and efficiently for the long term. Regular updates help maintain security, enhance functionality, and ensure your site can take advantage of the latest improvements.
In short, updating WordPress plugins is necessary because of the following reasons:
- Security: Plugins can often become vulnerable targets for hackers aiming to gain unauthorised access to your website. That’s why developers regularly release patches and updates to fix these security loopholes and keep your site secure.
- Compatibility: WordPress frequently updates its core versions, and when it does, plugin developers need to release their own updates to make sure everything works seamlessly with the version you have installed on your site.
- Performance Improvements: Sometimes, plugins can slow things down. Updates are often rolled out to enhance performance, ensuring the plugin runs smoothly and efficiently on your site.
- Bug Fixes: Updates typically include fixes for bugs. Keeping your plugins up-to-date ensures that any issues developers identify are resolved quickly, minimising any potential downtime or site malfunctions.
Read More: How to Update Your WordPress Plugins Manually?
The Most Important Question: How Often Should You Update Plugins?
The answer is Monthly.
1. Check for Updates At Least Monthly
Make sure you’re keeping the plugins on your website up-to-date. And when I say regularly, I mean checking for updates at least once a month. This helps guarantee everything on your site is running smoothly, performing at its best, and staying secure. Regular updates prevent security risks, keep performance optimised, and fix any bugs that could mess with your site’s functionality.
2. Disable Automatic Updates for Plugins
I recommend disabling automatic updates for your plugins. Here’s why: automatic updates can sometimes cause issues if they happen without oversight. For example, if there’s a WordPress core update and the plugin isn’t yet compatible with it, an automatic update could lead to problems on your site.
This is especially true for WooCommerce websites, where if the plugins have automatically updated could end up corrupting WordPress core files. As a result, either the plugin stops working, or, worse, the entire website stops loading. So, it’s best to manually manage updates to avoid these potential issues.
Read More: Integrating WooCommerce and Xero: A Guide to Streamline Your eCommerce Business
3. Monthly Plugin Audit for Optimisation
Make sure to do a monthly audit of your WordPress plugins to keep your website secure and running smoothly. This means checking if the plugins you’re using are being consistently updated by their developers.
If they’re not, it’s time to look for alternatives that offer better performance, security, and features. Sometimes, developers stop maintaining plugins, which can create security vulnerabilities that hackers might exploit. Regular monthly audits help ensure your site stays protected and performs at its best.
4. Always Backup Website Before an Update
We always advise users to back up their websites before making any updates. Updates can sometimes lead to corruption or cause issues with your website if there’s a misalignment, resulting in your site no longer functioning properly. This will show an error message like ‘There has been a critical error on this website’.
That’s why it’s best practice to first update plugins on a staging site instead of directly on your live site. Professional WordPress agencies typically handle plugin maintenance this way, ensuring updates are securely tested on the staging site to avoid any impact on the live website. Plus, by having a backup in place, you can quickly restore your site to its previous state if any issues occur.
Read More: How To Build a WordPress Website In 2024
5. Consider Hiring a WordPress Maintenance Agency
It’s a smart move to hire a trusted maintenance agency to handle your WordPress plugin updates on a monthly basis, especially if you don’t have the time, resources, or expertise to do it yourself.
The reason is simple: WordPress plugin updates can sometimes cause issues, particularly for high-traffic or popular websites. Imagine a busy website going down for an entire day due to a corrupted plugin update—your users won’t be able to access anything, your revenue could drop, and if the site stays down for too long, it could even affect your rankings on Google.
WordPress development agencies typically offer plugin maintenance services for around $1,000 per month, where they audit all the plugins on your site, test, and update them on a staging site first before rolling them out live.
This way, your site remains secure and running at its best, and if any issues occur, they can restore the website from the backup, ensuring your live site remains unaffected. This keeps your traffic, order volume, and revenue steady without any disruptions.
Best Practices for Updating WordPress Plugins
This is the most comprehensive list of best practices for updating your WordPress plugins. We’re sharing it here to ensure you know exactly what steps to take and how to implement them effectively. By following these practices, you can keep your website intact, functioning smoothly, and secure against potential issues.
- Backup Everything on your Website
The first step is to always back up everything on your website. We cannot emphasise this enough; it’s the most crucial step you can take. Use reliable backup plugins like BackupBuddy or UpdraftPlus to create a complete backup of your website.
Store this backup in a secure location, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or even your local machine. This ensures that when you start updating your plugins, you have the latest iteration of your website available as a secure restore point. With a proper backup in place, you can proceed with updates confidently, knowing that you can quickly restore your site if anything goes wrong.
- Update WordPress Core and Themes
Secondly, when updating plugins, it’s essential to start with the WordPress core and themes. Updating the WordPress core first ensures that your site operates with the latest features and security patches. If you update the core and themes first, it minimises the risk of compatibility issues with plugins.
If you were to update the plugins before the core and themes, you might encounter compatibility problems that could go unnoticed, leading to errors on your website or even causing it to become inaccessible. Therefore, the best approach is to always update the WordPress core first, followed by any themes you have in use, before tackling plugin updates.
- Do a Complete Plugin Audit
During a plugin audit, you will evaluate several key aspects of your installed plugins to ensure your website runs smoothly and securely. First, check how many plugins need updating to ensure you’re using the latest versions.
Next, identify any plugins that are deprecated or no longer compatible with your current version of WordPress. It’s also crucial to assess whether any plugins are slow or causing performance issues, as this can significantly impact loading times and overall site speed.
Additionally, review the plugins for compatibility issues with the WordPress core and other themes or plugins you have installed. Look for redundancies among your plugins; if multiple plugins serve similar functions, consider removing the unnecessary ones to streamline your site.
Finally, identify any security vulnerabilities that need addressing. WordPress security plugins like WP Scan or MalCare can help detect these security issues and provide insights on how to resolve them. By systematically checking these aspects during your plugin audit, you can ensure that your website remains secure, efficient, and well-functioning.
- Do Updates on Staging Website
One crucial practice to follow when updating anything on your website is to always perform these updates on a staging site, rather than directly on the live website. This approach allows you to make and test changes in a safe environment without risking any disruption to your live site.
Once you’ve completed the updates on the staging site and confirmed that everything functions correctly, you can then transfer those changes to the live site. Implementing updates directly on the live site can adversely impact its performance or functionality, potentially hindering growth or causing issues with your WordPress setup.
- Disable Plugins During Update
Disabling plugins on your website is essential during updates to prevent potential conflicts with your WordPress core or theme. The primary reason for this is that active plugins can interfere with the update process.
If a plugin is updated and introduces compatibility issues with the website, it could cause significant problems. By disabling all plugins beforehand, you ensure that everything is turned off during the update, minimising the risk of issues arising. After the updates are completed, you can re-enable the plugins one at a time.
- Update one plugin at a time
Many site owners often update all plugins at once, but this approach can lead to significant issues. It’s best practice to update plugins individually, ensuring each one functions properly before moving on to the next.
When multiple plugins are updated simultaneously, if a problem arises with one of them, it can be challenging to identify the source of the issue, potentially leading to website corruption or malfunction.
By updating one plugin at a time, you can isolate any issues that occur, allowing you to pinpoint the exact cause and type of problem. This method not only improves performance tracking but also enhances your site’s security. You’ll be more aware of what each update entails and can respond quickly to any conflicts, ensuring a smoother and more stable website overall.
- Remove unused plugins
When conducting a WordPress audit before updating plugins, it’s essential to check not only for performance, security, and feature-specific issues but also to identify any unused plugins on your website. Unused plugins can consume valuable bandwidth and storage space without providing any benefits. By removing these inactive plugins, you can enhance your overall security, streamline the update process, and simplify the complexity of your website.
Eliminating unused plugins reduces the risk of vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers, as outdated or inactive plugins often remain unpatched.
- Check for Deprecated Plugins
Deprecated plugins refer to those that are no longer actively maintained or updated by their developers. This lack of maintenance can lead to significant issues, such as security vulnerabilities, performance problems, and compatibility issues with the current version of WordPress installed on your site.
Having deprecated plugins on your WordPress website is a serious red flag; they can pose unnecessary risks and inconvenience in the long term. To ensure the security and efficiency of your website, it’s crucial to identify and remove these outdated plugins, replacing them with well-maintained alternatives that provide ongoing support and updates.
- Check for Plugin Redundancies
When considering plugins, it’s important to avoid redundancy. For instance, All in One SEO and Rank Math offer similar SEO features, including the ability to handle redirects.
Additionally, if you also install a dedicated 301 Redirect or Redirection plugin, you may end up with overlapping functionalities. It’s more efficient to choose only one of these options rather than using multiple plugins for the same purpose.
Having multiple plugins that serve the same function can lead to increased resource consumption, such as excessive storage and bandwidth usage. This redundancy can create conflicts that may negatively impact your website’s performance and security.
- Clear Cache and Re-optimise website
After updating your plugins, it’s essential to clear the cache and re-optimise your website. Doing so ensures that visitors receive the most current version of your site, eliminating outdated content that may lead to confusion.
Clearing the cache removes old files that could harbour bugs or errors present before the update, minimising the risk of users encountering issues that affect their experience.
Additionally, a refreshed cache will include optimised files, leading to faster loading times and improved performance. This is vital for maintaining user engagement and satisfaction, ultimately contributing to higher conversion rates.
- Maintain a Document for Plugin Updates
Keeping a document for plugin updates is really important. It helps anyone updating the website know which plugins were changed, how they were updated, and what’s in the change log. This makes it easier for everyone to understand what’s going on with the site.
If multiple people are working on the site, having this information reduces confusion and helps keep everything running smoothly. Plus, it’s useful for troubleshooting issues that come up after updates. Overall, maintaining a clear record of plugin updates ensures better communication and helps keep the website in good shape.
- Perform Post-Plugin Update Testing on Site
After updating everything on your website, it’s essential to conduct post-update testing, starting on the staging site to confirm that all changes were implemented correctly. Prepare a checklist to streamline this process, ensuring that your WordPress site loads properly, maintains optimal speed, and passes Google’s Core Web Vitals.
Additionally, verify that all plugins are functioning as intended, and check for any bugs, security loopholes, or compatibility issues that might disrupt your website’s performance. By thoroughly following this checklist, you can proactively identify and resolve any potential problems before they impact your live site, ultimately providing a seamless experience for your users.
What to Do If an Update Breaks Your Site
Even after a thorough plugin update, there’s always a chance that your website might break. So, what’s the best course of action in such cases? We’ve laid out a few options that can help you navigate this situation.
Restore Your Backup
First and foremost, you need to restore your website from the backup you created before starting the plugin updates. This is why backing up your site beforehand is crucial! If you run into issues after updating your plugins, the next step is to check each plugin one by one to identify what’s causing the problem.
This scenario is pretty rare, though, because in 99.9% of cases, if you update plugins one at a time, you’ll quickly see if a particular plugin is breaking your site. You can pinpoint the troublemaker right then and there.
Roll Back to the Previous Version
If you identify a problematic plugin, the second option is to roll back to the previous version. You can use a plugin like WP Rollback, which allows you to revert to an earlier version easily and help avoid any issues.
Contact Plugin Support
Finally, if a plugin is indeed causing problems, reach out to the plugin’s support team. If it’s a premium plugin, they should provide direct assistance. If it’s a free plugin, your options might be limited, but don’t hesitate to contact your WordPress maintenance team for help in resolving the issue. They can assist you in getting everything back on track.
Why Hire an Agency to Maintain and Update WordPress Plugins?
Working with a maintenance agency can really help you avoid many headaches when it comes to managing your WordPress website. They’ve got the experience and expertise to guide you on best practices, which can take a lot of time for you to learn on your own. Plus, as a business owner, you should be focused on what you do best, not digging into web development details.
If you try to handle plugin updates yourself, you might run into compatibility issues that could hurt your business’s revenue and overall performance. That’s why it’s smart to let the pros handle it. They’ll ensure your website is secure, running smoothly, and free from compatibility problems. By investing in a maintenance agency, you can spend your time on things that boost your business while they take care of the updates and keep everything in check.
Conclusion
Ensuring that your WordPress plugins are up to date is essential for maintaining your website’s security and performance. Regular updates help eliminate security vulnerabilities, enhance site performance, and prevent compatibility issues that could lead to website breakdowns.
In summary, it’s crucial to update your WordPress plugins on a monthly basis to keep everything functioning smoothly and effectively. This proactive approach not only safeguards your website but also ensures an optimal user experience.
How WP Creative Helps with Plugin Updates?
WP Creative is the leading WordPress development agency in Australia, specialising in eCommerce stores and websites.
We at WP Creative recognise how time-consuming plugin updates can be for non-developers. To alleviate this burden, we ensure that plugins are consistently updated on a monthly basis.
Our comprehensive WordPress care plan focuses on keeping your plugins current, ensuring your website runs smoothly and you have the peace of mind needed to focus on your core business operations.