We offer to teach most of our website clients using WordPress to update its plugins and themes themselves. It’s typically not a difficult chore, but it is yet another recurring task on a manager’s or entrepreneur’s to-do list. For that reason, we’re hardly surprised when someone asks, “Can you handle it for us?”
WordPress is one of the most-used, most-convenient ways to deploy websites. Its code base is also huge, and updates are common to fix new issues, add features, and keep things secure. This is normal for a system of its size, scope, and public accessibility.
Such updates are released as needed and as they become available, not on a particular schedule. That means a manager or developer must monitor each website regularly for pending updates.
Also see: How to Apply WordPress Updates.
Answer: how often should you apply the updates?
If WordPress updates were only for adding features, one could justify not updating a site that doesn’t need those features. But it’s also about website reliability, squashing bugs, and improving security. Therefore, most updates should be applied as soon as conveniently possible.
Our practice at External Design: a web manager or developer logs into our WordPress sites regularly to apply routine updates. But we also stay informed and, when industry news tells of a specific issue or vulnerability of concern, we update themes and plugins much more often.
About all those WordPress updates… how often do you apply them?
