Upgrade WordPress

Introduction

A website is also something technically alive, although we think that when it is finished and uploaded to the Internet we have to forget about this technical aspect. Well, I'm sorry to tell you that this is not the case. There are constantly new versions of programming languages, server software, etc. that influence the correct functioning of our website. Here we are going to focus on the pages developed with WordPress and how update WordPress.

WordPress is one of the most widely used platforms for developing websites and/or online shops. For this reason, it is very important to update WordPress whenever it is required and to make sure that you never fall behind in these updates. It is not only the WordPress versions that need to be kept up to date, it is also necessary to update the corresponding plugins and themes..

In doing so, you will avoid subsequent problems of errors or bugs on your website and of course also problems of security loopholes.

Many times out of laziness or fear of something "breaking" we skip this maintenance step and when you least expect it, your website does not work as well as before, or it is slower, or you have suffered a hack, or it is not visible.

This type of work can be done by contracting the maintenance service to the companyand so you will you save a lot of time and trouble, and in this case, Aulatina gives you this service. O you can do it yourselfwith which you have to be very careful when doing so.

Before a WordPress update

It is very important to make a backup copy of your website firstbecause you can't be 100% sure that everything will be fine after upgrading. And this is due to possible incompatibilities of plugin versions with a new version of WordPress, or also due to incompatibility of the PHP version of your server. In other words, also check that the new version of WordPress is compatible with the version of PHP you have installed on your server.

First of all, I would make sure that the server where you have hosted the website gives you the backup service. That way, if something happens, you can let them know so that they can restore the latest version. At Aulatina, for example, we perform daily backups of the websites that we have hosted on our server.

Otherwise, if you have your website on a server without a backup service, I recommend that you use the plugin UpdarftPlus. It is one of the most widely used backup and restore plugins for WordPress.

Upgrading a WordPress to the latest version

Once we are sure that we have a backup of our website, we update to the latest version of WordPress. This process is usually very quick and is automatic once you have clicked on update. Once it has been updated, it is advisable to open your web page and check that everything is working properly.

Updating the WordPress theme

Whether you have a purchased theme or not, you also have to keep it up to date. Otherwise, your website may lose functionality or some elements may not display correctly. Especially this is important when you have an online shop. Because it can happen that the shopping cart button is moved to a "strange" place, that the visual structure of the products is lost, etc. In short, keep your theme up to date.

Update Plugins

The same thing happens with the plugins we have on our website. Due to security and functionality issues, new versions are released, and you need to keep them up to date.

It is important that before updating a plugin, check if it is compatible with the new version of WordPress you have installed. It may happen that when updating some plugins are not compatible with that version, and your website stops being seen (yes, you get the famous blank screen that scares you).

However, there is a plugin that allows you to revert to a previous version of any plugin, this is it: WP Rollback. Use it in case you notice that your website does not work as before. In case you see a blank screen on your website, we recommend that you restore the backup.

For the case of white screen, there is another technical procedure that can be performed to verify which plugin is giving us problems. That is by entering via FTP to our server and perform a series of steps. But we believe that this will be more complicated if you don't have some technical knowledge.

In what order do I update everything?

On the Internet you will see different opinions. But based on our experience we recommend that you update first the theme, then the plugins and finally the WordPress version..

However, if something happens after updating WordPress and its corresponding plugins and theme, you can always fall back on your backup.

Y if you want to save time, and avoid headachesyou can get in touch with contact with us and request this service from us.

If you need a website, and you need it to be obsolete in a few years, you need the web design is built on a CMS such as WordPress, which is continually being updated.