Keeping your WordPress site and its plugins and themes updated should be a top priority. It can feel tedious and time-consuming. But staying current with the latest versions is crucial for security, compatibility, new features, and more.
In this post, we’ll explore all the reasons why updating your WordPress plugins and themes is so important; and why
updates should be a regular part of your site’s maintenance routine.
Outdated Plugins and Themes Are a Security Risk
The number one reason to keep your WordPress plugins and themes updated is security. Updates patch security loopholes by fixing known bugs and weaknesses. Outdated software versions contain vulnerabilities that hackers and other bad actors use to load malware and take other actions to exploit or break into your site. Over 80% of hacked WordPress sites had outdated plugins or themes, according to WPBeginner. Updates patch security loopholes by fixing known bugs and weaknesses. Staying current is like putting locks on all your doors and windows. It keeps the bad guys out. Don’t let your site be low-hanging fruit that’s easy to breach.
Common ways that outdated plugins and themes lead to security disasters include:
- Malware injection – Hackers can insert malicious code or links that harm your site.
- Phishing scams – Your site could be used to steal user data.
- Spam attacks – Your content and comments get overrun with junk links and text.
- Blacklisting – Being labelled as unsafe by security services like Google.
- Defacement – Hackers take over and vandalize your site’s appearance and content.
- Data theft – Usernames, passwords, emails, and other private info is stolen.
- Complete takeover – Losing all access and control of your site.
Updates Fix Annoying Bugs and Errors
Periodically updating can also squash annoying bugs and errors in your plugins and themes, since the companies that make these products are constantly working to fix glitches and problems. When you update, those repairs are applied to your site. Everything will run more smoothly without random issues popping up.
Examples of pesky bugs that updates can resolve include:
- Media library freezing or crashing.
- Fatal error messages.
- Getting a white screen instead of a site loading.
- Features that don’t work properly.
- Pages loading slowly or failing to load.
Many bugs aren’t dangerous security flaws, but they are still frustrating. Updates give you a more seamless, headache-free experience.
Maintaining Compatibility is Crucial
Compatibility is another big reason to keep your plugins, themes, and WordPress core updated. Different elements of your site need to work together harmoniously, and when core WordPress software is updated, plugin and theme developers scramble to ensure their products remain compatible. They release updates to integrate properly with the new core code. If you fail to update your plugins and themes, they become incompatible with the updated WordPress version. Conflicts can cause weird errors that are hard to diagnose or crashes and other unexpected behavior. You want all the pieces — core plugins, themes — running the same version and working together. Updates are the key to compatibility.
Don’t Miss Out on New Features and Enhancements
One more exciting reason to keep your site updated: getting access to new features and enhancements!
The teams behind WordPress, popular plugins, and premium themes are always adding new functionality. Updating gives you those latest and greatest perks.
Some examples of awesome new features that updates unlock include:
- Improved website speed and performance.
- Better looking and more intuitive admin interfaces.
- Enhanced features for e-commerce, forms, menus, etc.
- More customization options for designs.
- Built-in analytics and traffic tracking.
- Stronger spam blocking tools.
- Automated backups and security scanning.
For developers selling commercial plugins and themes, releasing updates with new features is critical, since this helps drive more sales and maintain market share. The WordPress ecosystem is always moving forward. Updating allows you to reap the benefits instead of getting left behind.
Turn Updates into a Regular Maintenance Routine
Here are some tips on making updates part of your regular site maintenance regimen:
- Back up first. Always back up your site before updating. Restore points and staging sites can save you a lot of time and effort if something does go wrong.
- Update plugins/themes first. For maximum compatibility get everything current before upgrading WordPress core.
- One at a time.- Update plugins and themes individually, instead of doing bulk updates. This makes it much easier to pinpoint any issues.
- Test on a staging site.- Try out updates on a staging copy of your site before deploying to production.
- Schedule it. Set reminders to update regularly (monthly, for example).
- Review changelogs. Read details on each update to know what is changing and why.
Take a proactive stance and add updates to your regular site maintenance routine. Your future self will thank you when everything is running smoothly!
In Summary
We hope this post has shown why it’s so important to keep your WordPress plugins, themes, and core updated. The benefits of security, compatibility, fixes, and new features are too good to ignore.
Treat updates like brushing your teeth: as essential site hygiene. Make it an ongoing habit, not a sporadic chore; and feel free to contact eMazzanti for help with addressing regular updates in your website.
