How to update your WordPress site with WP Toolkit and Smart Update

Update WordPress

1. On the WP Toolkit page, scroll to the WordPress site that you'd like to update.
2. Under the Status section next to WordPress, click on the link Update to X.Y.Z (version number).
   Please note that this link only appears if you don't have the latest WordPress version installed. If it doesn't appear, then you can skip the next steps and return when a new WordPress version is released.
   1. Tick the checkboxes Select All Updates and Restore Point.
      This will assure that not only WordPress is updated, but also all installed plugins/themes.
      Creating a restore point is highly recommended so you can revert in case an update breaks your site.
   2. Click on the "Update" button and wait for the process to finish.
3. Check if your WordPress site still functions correctly. If you notice any issues, you can restore the site from the backup.

Enable Auto-Updates and Smart Update

Updating your site can be a boring and frustrating process, and unfortunately something that is often forgotten, but always very important for your site's security. The good news is that this process can be automated. Even better news is that if an update would break your site WP Toolkit can recognise this and skip the update through its Smart Update feature. This eliminates almost any reason to postpone updates.

Smart Update tests WordPress updates without affecting the production site. It clones your site, updates the clone, and runs a number of checks to see if updates have broken anything. You can review test results and check the test site itself to make an informed decision about updating your production site.

To enable Automatic Updates and/or Smart Update:

1. On the WP Toolkit page, scroll to the WordPress site that you'd like to enable automatic updates
2. Click on the Autoupdate settings link
   1. Next to Update WordPress automatically, select at least Yes, but only minor (security) updates
   2. Next to Update plugins automatically, select at least Defined individually, but security updates are autoinstalled
   3. Next to Update themes automatically, select at least Defined individually, but security updates are autoinstalled
   4. Click on the OK button
3. Enable Smart Update (recommended, but optional)

Every 24 hours, WP Toolkit will check for updates and installed the type of updates that you have enabled. Unless you have Smart Update enabled, it's recommended to always have a recent backup available, just in case an update breaks your site.

Notes about Smart Update:

• Smart Update tests WordPress updates without affecting the production site.
• It clones your site, updates the clone, and runs a number of checks to see if updates have broken anything.
• The updates are never applied on the production site if the automated regression testing tool determines that your site is broken after the test update run.
• In case an issue is detected during the automated regression testing:
  • Smart Update sends an email notification to the cPanel contact email.
  • You can review test results and check the test site itself to make an informed decision about updating your production site.
  • Your production site is not affected until you either confirm the update (manual update) or the regression testing introduces no (new) issues (automatic update).
• Since Smart Update creates a clone of your site, you must assure that your cPanel account always has at least 50% free disk space available, otherwise, Smart Update will fail and your site will remain outdated.

Premium Plugins and Themes

Please note that premium/paid themes and plugins may need to be manually checked for updates and updated. WordPress and WP Toolkit may be unable to update such plugins/themes. You should check the documentation of your premium/paid themes and plugins for their update procedure, and bookmark or subscribe to the release log to be aware when a new version is released. Many premium themes have other premium plugins bundled, and those can only be updated if you update the theme first, then refer to the theme's documentation on how to update the bundled plugins.

For premium plugins that come bundled with themes, we generally recommend purchasing your own standalone license if possible. It often happens that theme vendors stop maintaining the theme and no longer provide updates of the bundled plugins, which would prevent you from getting security updates of those plugins. Some theme vendors are also very slow in providing security updates for the bundled plugins. With your own standalone license of the premium plugin, you would have access to security updates as soon as they're released, without having to rely on the theme vendor.

Updated by SP on 22/04/2023