WordPress updates are a common occurrence, and for good reason. That said, every time there is an update to WordPress we get a lot of emails asking if it is safe to run those updates. In short, the answer is yes but we’ll detail the pros and cons of doing so and what to do before EVERY update.
WordPress is a free, open-source platform which means that it is built by a community of developers. Impressively, it powers 1 in 3 websites in the whole world. As such, with every new update there are improvements in performance, bug fixes, addition of new features and improvements to existing ones, bug fixes and also, very importantly, updates to security which closes loop holes for hackers.
As WordPress powers 1 in 3 hackers it is a target for hackers so it is imperative to keep that website up to date.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Updating your websites means you’ll be patching it to the latest version and therefore making the most of WordPresses performance, features and beefed up security.
Cons:
Websites are complex so it can knock things out of alignment if 2 things become incompatible
Must:
Therefore, before every single update it is so important to take a manual backup prior to running those updates. Every good host should be taking regular backups (or at least we do) but that means any changes between that last hosting backup and before you click update will be lost, forever. Therefore, as good practice make sure you run a backup before pulling the trigger.
Running the Update
All you need to do is visit Dashboard » Updates page and install those updates. This is a one-click process and should take a minute or so to run. You can opt to do this or reach out to your current developer or hosting company who should be able to assist. If we host your website then do reach out to us and we can offer our support.
