Just like a computer or smartphone, a WordPress website will need updates to benefit from the latest features, as well as other valuable advantages that help it run properly.
So why and how should you update your WordPress site? Here are all our tips on the subject!
Why update a WordPress site?
If updates are strongly recommended, it is certainly not without reason. Indeed, a WordPress site update makes it possible to carry out the necessary changes over time at different levels. When you start using WordPress, you will have the latest version available. Then, over time, this version will quickly become obsolete. That is why updating WordPress will be essential for the site to function properly.
Updating a WordPress site will help improve the security of your website. Security is indeed essential when using WordPress, which is one of the most successful CMS platforms today. Indeed, viruses evolve over time and hackers develop new methods. That is why carrying out updates on time helps maintain a good level of security for your website.
The WordPress update will also provide new features. Indeed, the CMS evolves over the months and years, and depending on whether the update is minor or major, more or less significant changes may be made, sometimes putting developers’ nerves to the test. For example, a new content editor recently appeared to meet users’ needs, but this also sometimes means having to get used to a new way of working.
Finally, technical bugs will also be fixed by the WordPress update. Despite regular updates, bugs can appear, and subsequent versions will then make it possible to fix them. The code is streamlined, which optimizes your website’s performance. This point is essential so that your visitors do not lose patience when accessing your content, as well as to satisfy Google and its WordPress SEO system.
Plugins and themes are also affected
Updating a WordPress site is, as we have seen, essential since it offers many advantages. But updating a WordPress plugin can also change everything. Indeed, a WordPress website very often requires the installation of plugins and themes in order to fully benefit from all the desired features. Over time, these tools can also become obsolete, which is why updating them will always be beneficial.
How do you update WordPress?
Updating a WordPress site is a very simple operation, as simple as one you might launch on a computer or smartphone. And this is also true for plugin and theme updates.
What can be more complex is that an update brings about changes. These changes can affect how the platform works on the client side,
but may also have repercussions on how your website is displayed and functions. These will not always be noticeable, but they can sometimes lead to real bugs that will then need to be fixed. This can notably be explained by the fact that the changes caused by the update conflict with what already exists, or affect what has been put in place to ensure the site works properly. Nothing alarming overall, but if you decide to carry out the update yourself, it is better to be sure you can manage the situation once it has been done.
If in doubt, it is better to entrust this task to a professional.
The WordPress agency Maintenance WP is perfectly capable of taking care of updating your WordPress site and then correcting any issues that may result from it. What’s more, it is always preferable to back up your website before launching a WordPress update. To do this, you will therefore need to check the technical prerequisites, make the backup, deactivate the active plugins, and launch the WordPress site update by clicking on “Dashboard,” then “Updates” and “Update automatically.” The WordPress site update will then be downloaded and installed completely autonomously. To support you, our teams offer a package dedicated to the maintenance of your WordPress website, which includes in particular installing updates as soon as they are available, then checking that they are working properly.
