How to update your WordPress plugins

Last month, we wrote about how to update WordPress. Today we’ll cover how to update plugins. “Why?” I hear you cry. Plugins regularly updates to do three things: (1) fix bugs and add new features to the plugin, (2) update the code so that the plugin works with the latest version of WordPress, and (3) fix security loopholes to make the plugin more secure.  All good reason for updating your plugins regularly!

4 Steps to update your WordPress plugins

Step 1: Login

Login to your WordPress site as normal. You need to make sure that you are using a login with “administrator” access in order to apply updates.

Step 2: Back up your site

99.9% of the time, upgrading your WordPress plugins won’t have any negative effects. If you’re one of the unlucky ones that fall into the 0.1% category, an upgrade may be incompatible with your version of WordPress and you may end up with a site that isn’t behaving as it should!

Make sure that you take a backup of your website before doing anything, and then download that backup and save it on your computer. Note that your backup should include both the database and the website files for your site.

Step 3: View available updates

Look at your left hand menu and find the Plugins option. This will have a little red circle with a number in it if updates are available. The number represents the number of updates available for your site, and includes WordPress, plugin and theme updates.

You’ll then see all your installed plugins, but you want to only see those that need an update. To do this, click the Update Available option that appears above the plugin list:

You’ll now see only those plugins that need to be updated.

Step 4: Update your plugins one at a time

If you’re new to updating plugins, I’d suggest applying the updates one at a time. To do this, simply click the Update Now link under the first plugin:

Once the update is complete, you’ll see the following message:

Now view your site in your browser – not the backend, but the frontend that your visitors see. Check a few pages. Make sure that the links work. If you have any sexy functionality like an online shop, or a forum, or an online calendar, check these to make sure that they work.

If they do, you’re in great shape and you can repeat the plugin update process for all of the out-of-date plugins on your site.

What to do if something goes wrong

Sometimes things do go wrong when you update your plugins. Here are a few common problems:

When I click the update button, nothing happens

It may be that your server is configured in a way that prevents updates to plugins from the WordPress dashboard. If that’s the case, you’ll need to manually update the plugin by downloading the latest version of the plugin and transferring specific files to your site to overwrite the old version.

You can do this using FTP or by overwriting files in your file explorer through your host. Simply overwrite the existing plugin files with the latest version of the plugin. As always, make sure that you have a backup of your site before doing anything.

If you’re not sure how to transfer files, feel free to ask us. We’d be happy to help, so get in touch if you want to chat.

The update gets “stuck” and never seems to end AND my website has a message about being in Maintenance Mode…

In this case, what you’ll need to do is access your hosting account to see all your website files, or you can do this via FTP. In your website root folder (the place where all your WordPress files “live”), look for a file called .maintenance and delete it.  That will end the update and remove the maintenance mode message.

It may be that the plugin has updated, in which case you just need to check that all is well on the front end. If the plugin hasn’t updated, you may need to update your site manually – see the instructions for “When I click the update button, nothing happens”.

The update has broken my site!

Not to worry. You can simply restore your site from the backup file that you have safely saved on your computer.

If you have the backup file and you’re not sure how to restore it, we can help – simply get in touch.

If you didn’t bother to back up your site… Things get a bit trickier. Some plugin updates don’t only change files, but also the database. Get in touch with us and we can take a look and see if we can help you restore your site.

The update has broken my online shop / forum / calendar / other functionality

Not to worry. You can simply restore your site from the backup file that you have safely saved on your computer.

Once you’ve done that, you can do some research to find out whether your plugin is incompatible with the version of WordPress you are using on your site – perhaps your plugin developer hasn’t issued a new update to align the plugin with the new version, which means you need to wait until the plugin is updated before you update WordPress.  Perhaps you simply need to update the plugin first. If you’re not sure how to find out what you need to know, get in touch for a chat.

If you have the backup file and you’re not sure how to restore it, we can help – simply get in touch.

If you didn’t bother to back up your site… Things get a bit trickier. Some plugin updates don’t only change files, but also the database. Get in touch with us and we can take a look and see if we can help you restore your site.

When I try to update my plugin, it asks me for a license code and I can’t update it

This can have several reasons.

First, if your website uses a premium WordPress theme for your design, it may be that the plugin has been included in the theme files. In this case, you don’t have a private license, but you do have permission to use the plugin with the theme. This is a common problem with the Visual Composer / Visual Editor that is included in many premium themes. To upgrade the plugin, you’ll need to update your theme files, and as long as the theme developer has updated the plugin, your plugins will be updated too. Note / Warning: make sure that you know what you are doing when you update your theme. If you have made changes to the underlying theme files without creating a child theme, there is a risk that you may over-write any theme customisations. If you’re not sure how to check this or want to be on the safe side, you may want to get someone like Stress-free WP to help – feel free to get in touch if that helps.

Second, you may have purchased a premium theme to use on your site. If you did, you’ll need to find out where you bought the theme, check if your license is still valid (some only provide free updates for a year), and then enter your license code in order to update the plugin. If your license has expired, you’ll need to buy a new copy.

Third, your developer may have purchased a premium theme on your behalf, or they may have allowed you to use their developer license to keep you plugin updated. In this case you’ll need to contact your developer to ask for the file updates. If you can’t get the license or updates from your developer, you may need to purchase a license for yourself.

Need to update your WordPress version? Click here for instructions.

That’s it

Once your plugins have all been updated, you might want to update your theme, too, but that’s another post for another day.

Hopefully this was useful.  Need more information or fancy a chat?  Just shout!