The WordPress dashboard notification telling you that updates are available is easy to ignore, especially when your site is working fine. But those updates exist for a reason - and delaying them is one of the most common ways WordPress sites get compromised.
Why WordPress Updates Matter
The most critical reason to update promptly is security. When a vulnerability is discovered in WordPress core, a plugin, or a theme, the details often become public knowledge when the patch is released. This means attackers now know exactly what the vulnerability is and can immediately start scanning the internet for sites that have not yet updated.
Sites running outdated software are the low-hanging fruit that automated attacks target first. Keeping everything updated is not optional - it is the baseline requirement for a secure website.
Beyond security, updates also bring bug fixes, compatibility improvements, and occasionally new features. Running outdated versions can cause compatibility issues as other software around it evolves.
The Three Types of WordPress Updates
WordPress core updates - Updates to WordPress itself. These come in two varieties: minor releases (like 6.4.1 to 6.4.2) which are security and bug fix releases, and major releases (like 6.4 to 6.5) which include new features and sometimes significant changes.
Plugin updates - Updates to the individual plugins you have installed. These are by far the most frequent type of update, since each plugin is maintained independently by its developer.
Theme updates - Updates to your active theme and any other installed themes. These are less frequent but equally important.
The Right Order to Update
When multiple updates are available, applying them in the right order reduces the risk of conflicts.
- Back up your site first (more on this below)
- Update WordPress core - start with the foundation
- Update plugins - most compatibility issues arise from plugins, so updating them after core means you are starting from a stable base
- Update themes - if you are using a child theme, the parent theme can be updated safely without affecting your customizations
If you are updating multiple plugins at once, some developers recommend updating them one at a time and checking your site after each update. For sites with many plugins, this is more cautious than practical - updating in batches of three to five and checking after each batch is a reasonable middle ground.
Back Up Before You Update
Never update a production site without a current backup. Updates rarely cause problems, but when they do - a plugin conflict, a PHP compatibility issue, a theme breaking - you want to be able to restore your site to its previous state quickly.
If you use UpdraftPlus, run a manual backup immediately before applying updates. Store the backup somewhere off your server (Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar). The entire process takes two to three minutes and can save hours of troubleshooting if something goes wrong.
Using a Staging Environment
For more complex sites - ecommerce stores, membership sites, or any site where downtime has real business consequences - testing updates on a staging environment before applying them to your live site is the professional approach.
A staging site is an identical copy of your live site where you can test changes without risk. Many managed WordPress hosting plans include staging functionality. At dotCanada, you can create a staging environment directly from your hosting control panel.
Test the updates on staging, confirm everything works correctly, then apply the same updates to your live site with confidence.
Enabling Auto-Updates for Minor Releases
WordPress minor releases (security and bug fix releases) are safe to apply automatically because they are designed to be non-breaking. Enabling auto-updates for these means your site receives critical security patches as soon as they are released, without requiring you to log in and apply them manually.
You can enable this in Dashboard → Updates by clicking "Enable automatic updates for all new versions of WordPress," or you can limit it to minor releases only by adding this line to your wp-config.php file:
define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', 'minor' );
For plugin auto-updates, WordPress allows you to enable them on a per-plugin basis under Plugins → Installed Plugins - each plugin has an "Enable auto-updates" link in its row.
Auto-updating plugins carries slightly more risk than auto-updating core, since plugin updates are more varied in scope. A reasonable approach is to auto-update security-critical plugins (like Wordfence) and manually update everything else on a regular schedule.
Building a Maintenance Habit
Set a recurring task to review and apply WordPress updates at least once a week. Treat it like any other routine business maintenance. A fifteen-minute weekly update session is far less painful than dealing with a hacked or broken site.
If you would rather not manage updates yourself, dotCanada offers managed WordPress hosting plans that include regular maintenance and updates as part of the service - so you can focus on running your business while we keep your site running smoothly.
