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Keeping your WordPress site updated is crucial for security, performance, and overall site stability. Regular updates to WordPress core, plugins, and themes often contain important security patches, performance improvements, and new features. Failure to update them can make your website vulnerable to security risks or compatibility issues. Fortunately, WordPress allows you to automate updates for plugins and themes, saving you time and ensuring your site stays secure.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to set up automatic updates for your WordPress plugins and themes, why it’s important, and what to consider before enabling automatic updates.

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Why You Should Enable Automatic WordPress Updates

Automatic updates in WordPress provide significant benefits, especially for website owners who may not have the time or technical know-how to manually update plugins and themes regularly.

1. Enhanced Security

WordPress sites are a frequent target for hackers, and outdated plugins and themes are a common entry point. By keeping them updated automatically, you minimize security risks and ensure your site is protected against vulnerabilities.

2. Improved Site Performance

Updates often come with performance improvements. Automatic updates ensure that your plugins and themes are running the most efficient and optimized versions, leading to faster load times and better user experiences.

3. Reduced Maintenance Time

Manually updating plugins and themes can be time-consuming, particularly for websites with many installed plugins. Enabling automatic updates streamlines this process, allowing you to focus on more critical tasks.

4. Bug Fixes and New Features

Developers frequently release updates to fix bugs or introduce new features. By enabling automatic updates, you ensure that your site always benefits from the latest improvements.

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Considerations Before Enabling Automatic Updates

While automatic updates provide several advantages, there are a few things to keep in mind before enabling them:

1. Plugin and Theme Compatibility

• Some plugins or themes might not be compatible with the latest version of WordPress or with each other. An automatic update could potentially break your site if there’s a compatibility issue.

1. Site Backups

• Always ensure you have a reliable backup system in place before enabling automatic updates. If something goes wrong during an update, you can quickly restore your site to a previous version.

1. Staging Environment

• It’s a good practice to test updates in a staging environment before applying them to your live site, especially if you run a complex or heavily customized WordPress site.

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How to Enable Automatic Updates for WordPress Plugins and Themes

There are two primary ways to enable automatic updates for WordPress plugins and themes: through the WordPress dashboard or by using a plugin. Let’s walk through both methods.

Method 1: Enable Automatic Updates via the WordPress Dashboard

WordPress introduced built-in functionality for automatic plugin and theme updates in version 5.5. You can easily enable this feature without using any additional tools.

Step 1: Log in to Your WordPress Dashboard

• Go to your WordPress admin panel by logging in at yoursite.com/wp-admin.

Step 2: Enable Automatic Updates for Plugins

1. From the dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
2. You’ll see a list of all the plugins installed on your site.
3. To enable automatic updates for individual plugins, simply click the Enable Auto-updates link next to the plugin name.

For example:

Plugin Name | Description | Version | Enable Auto-updates

Once you enable automatic updates for a plugin, WordPress will handle future updates automatically, keeping the plugin up to date without manual intervention.

Step 3: Enable Automatic Updates for Themes

1. Navigate to Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Hover over the theme you want to update automatically.
3. Click on the Theme Details button.
4. Inside the theme details, you’ll see a link labeled Enable Auto-updates. Click on it.

Just like with plugins, WordPress will now automatically update your themes whenever new versions are released.

Method 2: Enable Automatic Updates Using a Plugin

If you prefer more control or additional functionality, you can use a plugin to manage automatic updates for WordPress plugins, themes, and even the core itself. One of the most popular options is the Easy Updates Manager plugin.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Easy Updates Manager Plugin

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. In the search bar, type “Easy Updates Manager.”
4. Click Install Now and then Activate the plugin.

Step 2: Configure Automatic Update Settings

1. Once activated, navigate to Dashboard > Updates Options.
2. You’ll see a dashboard with various settings for controlling automatic updates.
3. You can choose to enable automatic updates for:

• WordPress Core (major and minor updates).
• Plugins.
• Themes.
• Translation files.

1. Simply toggle the settings to enable automatic updates for the components you want to manage.

Step 3: Advanced Settings

Easy Updates Manager also provides advanced settings, such as:

• Logging: Track updates to ensure everything is running smoothly.
• Update Safeguards: Control how and when updates are applied.
• Exclude Specific Plugins or Themes: If you want to prevent certain plugins or themes from updating automatically, you can exclude them from the automatic update list.

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How to Disable Automatic Updates for Plugins and Themes

If you decide later that you no longer want automatic updates enabled, you can easily disable them.

Disabling Automatic Updates for Plugins

1. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
2. Find the plugin that has automatic updates enabled.
3. Click on the Disable Auto-updates link next to the plugin name.

Disabling Automatic Updates for Themes

1. Navigate to Appearance > Themes.
2. Hover over the theme that has automatic updates enabled.
3. Click on Theme Details.
4. Inside the theme details, you’ll see a link labeled Disable Auto-updates. Click on it to stop automatic updates for that theme.

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Best Practices for Managing Automatic Updates

1. Set Up Regular Backups

Before enabling automatic updates, ensure that you have regular backups of your website. Use a reliable backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy to automatically back up your site before updates are applied.

2. Use a Staging Environment

For complex websites, using a staging environment to test updates is essential. This prevents live site issues due to incompatibility. Many hosting providers like SiteGround or WP Engine offer staging environments as part of their hosting plans.

3. Monitor Your Site After Updates

After automatic updates are applied, regularly check your site for any errors or broken functionality. Consider using tools like UptimeRobot to monitor site performance and uptime.

Enabling automatic WordPress updates for plugins and themes is an effective way to keep your website secure, optimized, and up to date. Whether you choose to enable automatic updates through the WordPress dashboard or use a plugin like Easy Updates Manager, the process is straightforward and can save you a significant amount of time.

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can ensure that your site remains secure without the hassle of manually updating plugins and themes. Just remember to have a solid backup strategy in place and test updates in a staging environment if your site is heavily customized or complex.

This approach to managing your WordPress site will help ensure ongoing security, performance, and functionality, giving you peace of mind that your site is always running on the latest versions of your plugins and themes.

For enhanced website security, check out our guide on How to Set Up SSL Certificate in Hostinger for Your WordPress Website.