WordPress stands out as a widely popular Content Management System (CMS) that offers a user-friendly interface, and there are many benefits of using it for your website. It not only has extensive customization options, and a vast ecosystem of themes and plugins. Its open-source nature makes it highly flexible and adaptable to different website needs, and WordPress boasts a large and active community, which provides ample support and resources.

Updates are not only generally safe with WordPress, they are strongly recommended . Updating WordPress plugins and themes is essential to keep your website secure, improve performance, and access new features and bug fixes. Using a monitoring tools is a great way to keep up to date with the latest updates for your WordPress plugins and themes. Some of theme can automatically update your plugins and themes for you, so you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself. It can also notify you of any security vulnerabilities or other problems with your plugins and themes, so you can take action to fix them right away.

If you like to do this on your own, in this post, we will share some of the best practices when updating WordPress Plugins and Themes.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links.

Best Practices

Backups Website Regularly.

This is the most important thing you can do before any update, including plugin and theme updates. A backup of your site will allow you to restore your site quickly and easily if something goes wrong.

Update Regularly.

Keep your WordPress core, plugins, and themes up to date. Developers release updates to patch security vulnerabilities, fix bugs, and improve functionality. Staying current is a key security measure.

Read Release Notes, Check for Compatibility and Conflicts.

This information often includes important details about what’s changed, new features, and potential issues that might arise during the update, including a warning saying “This plugin has not been tested with your current version of WordPress”.

Test Updates On a Staging Site First (if possible).

Set up a staging or development environment that replicates your live website. Test updates there first to ensure they don’t cause any conflicts or issues. If everything looks good on the staging site, proceed with the live site update.

Deactivate Caching.

If you’re using caching plugins or server-side caching, deactivate them before updating. Caching can sometimes interfere with the update process, and deactivating it temporarily can help prevent problems.

Disable Customizations.

If you’ve made custom modifications to your themes or plugins, it’s a good practice to disable these modifications before updating. Save a copy of your custom code, update the theme or plugin, and then reapply your customizations as needed.

Disable Plugins Before Updating Your Theme.

This can help to prevent conflicts between your theme and plugins. You can re-enable your plugins after the theme update is complete.

Update One at a Time.

To pinpoint any issues that may arise from updates, update plugins and themes one at a time, rather than updating everything at once. This makes it easier to identify the source of any problems.

Clean Up.

After updating, remove any unnecessary or outdated plugins and themes. This reduces the risk of conflicts and vulnerabilities.

Set Up Automatic Updates.

If you are confident, consider enabling automatic updates for minor WordPress releases, plugins, and themes. This can help keep your site more secure and up-to-date without manual intervention.

Monitor Your Website.

After updating, thoroughly test your website to ensure that everything is functioning as expected. Pay attention to issues like broken functionality, layout problems, or error messages.

Some Aditional Tips

Only install plugins and themes from trusted developers. Check the plugin or theme’s reviews and ratings before installing it.

Avoid using too many plugins. The more plugins you have in your website, the more likely it is that compatibility issues will occur.

Keep your plugins and themes up to date. Developers regularly release updates with new features and security fixes.

Disable unused plugins. If you’re not using a plugin, disable it to improve your site’s performance and security.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your WordPress website remains secure, up to date, and fully functional after updating plugins and themes. Remember that each website may have unique requirements, so adapt these practices to suit your specific needs.

How Ozpina Digital Can Help

At Ozpina Digital, we have been working for many years with Content Management Systems. We specialize in website design and implementation creating landing pages, e-commerce as well as multipurpose business websites, and our personnel’s biggest expertise is working with WordPress, which is immensely popular and is used by millions of people all over the world.

Let us know how we can help you. If it is a brand new project or an existing website that needs maintenance or support, contact our team.