This is a 5 step tutorial on how to update your WordPress website yourself.  It is written in a way to clearly and simply explain EXACTLY what you need to do to care for your site, and reduce or prevent costly and time-consuming problems.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Before you build a WordPress website, it’s important to understand you can’t just build it and walk away.  You can, but it’s not a good idea and here’s why:  A website requires on-going maintenance to ensure it stays up-to-date with security vulnerability patches, and that it remains compatible with changes in browser technology (like when a new version of Chrome, Safari, FireFox or other browser becomes available.)

I have 2 recommendations to achieve this level of compliance:  1 – Ask your web designer if they offer customized or no-contract monthly maintenance packages so you can focus on growing your business while THEY do your updates, OR 2 – If that extra monthly expense isn’t something you want to take on right now – follow the guideline below to learn how to properly update your website yourself.

STEP 1:  Backup Your Website (Do NOT under any circumstance skip this step)

Are you one of the people who actually backs up your own website?  If not, you’re walking the edge of a steep cliff without a net. By running updates without a backup you risk installing a bad or incompatible piece of code that can take down your site.  If you don’t have a solid backup from any point in your building process, you may even need to start building again from scratch.

My first suggestion to people who don’t have a website backup system in place, is get one fast.  First check with your hosting company to see if you can purchase a reliable backup tool.  While I’m not a fan of any one hosting company, I do prefer Bluehost.com for hosting specifically for their backup feature.

For about $15 a year, you gain access to their automated weekly and monthly backups of your site that can be restored in a single click:  A HUGE benefit if you’re maintaining your own site, and are prone to making update mistakes.  Companies like Hostgator.com let you run backups from their control panel, BUT they don’t have a quick and easy way to restore the backup.  They do, but it’s not always reliable.  Ex:  A few months back I was unable to restore backups I ran from Hostgator, because per Hostgator, the backups I ran didn’t copy all the tables I needed to restore properly.  So ALWAYS be sure your backup is able to be restored.  I’ve found bluehost.com backup to be really reliable to date.

ON A SIDE NOTE:  Ironically, there are WordPress plugins to assist with backup needs, BUT you have to risk corrupting your site with the new plugin install in order to use the backup functionality.  Bottom line:  Ask your web designer to make backup recommendations that will best suit you and your current backup needs.  Then do your research and make your decisions from there. You’ll be so glad you did if anything ever goes wrong.  (Don’t forget free options like Google Drive can also be considered.)

STEP 2:  Check to see WHAT updates your site requires (I’ll show you WHERE to look below)

Once you know you have a reliable backup of your site files and database(s) in place (that you know you can also definitely restore with), login to your WordPress dashboard and look at the dashboard menu at the top.  You can find it where the first red circle is in the illustration below.  When you place your cursor over the menu item DASHBOARD, you then see the sub-menu appear that says HOME, UPDATES, etc…  In the example below, we have 5 site updates showing. Simply click on the UPDATES menu item to see what site updates you’re being told need to be installed.

If you want to ONLY see the plugins you need to update, you can also look a bit further down in the dashboard for the menu item called PLUGINS.  Using the UPDATES menu item from the top of the dashboard is a more comprehensive option.

where-to-see-wp-updates copy

 

STEP 3:  Identify what WordPress updates need to be installed

Once you click on the menu item UPDATES, you will see a page open up that looks like the one below.  As you can see in the illustration, there are 2 separate types of updates:

  1. WordPress version updates; and
  2. Plugin updates.  If you’re not sure what the difference is, you may want to consider hiring someone to install the updates for you.  Otherwise, the quick explanation of it is that WordPress version updates update the actual files that allow you to access your dashboard and modify your site, while WordPress plugins typically only impact a specific FUNCTION of your site, that wasn’t originally included in your WordPress theme.  Ex:  If you have a newsletter like Constant Contact on  your site setup so that anyone who registers on your site will conveniently have their name sent to your actual Constant Contact account client signup list, THAT is a PLUGIN, because Constant Contact doesn’t typically come bundled with WordPress themes.

Keep in mind there are different approaches to updating a site, and this is just the process I use.  Some people like to deactivate ALL their plugins before running a version upgrade.  I personally upgrade the plugins FIRST, after I find they’re compatible with the latest and greatest WordPress version I’m moving to, then I update the site WordPress version LAST.  So that is the process I’m outlining in the screenshots below.  I also put red circles in red text below to clearly distinguish the area the WordPress site is upgraded, versus where the plugin updates are found.

 

where-to-look-to-find-wordpress-updates copy

 

STEP 4:  What to look for BEFORE you run updates on your WordPress website

This is a SERIOUSLY important part of running your own website updates.  You need to check the compatibility of the PLUGIN updates with the WordPress version.  Ex:  In the screenshot below, both the plugin updates indicate that ‘Compatibility with the latest and greatest WordPress version (in this case 3.5.1) is ‘UNKNOWN’.  So if you’re planning to upgrade your website to version 3.5.1 like the site below is doing, you don’t want to just upgrade the plugin and hope everything will be fine.  Sometimes if you wait a few days or week+, the plugin developer will come out with an update that is compatible with the most recent version update to WordPress.  If not, you need to consider other plugin alternatives that provide the same service and functionality, while still being compatible with your site WordPress update.

OR…there still may be hope for the current plugin. Check out the screenshot following the one directly below for more info.

compatibility-with-wp-version copy

Before you decide the plugin isn’t compatible with your WordPress site version, click on the link that says ‘VIEW VERSION  DETAILS’, as shown below:

check-plugin-details copy

When you click on the ‘VIEW VERSION DETAILS’ link, you will see a window open up that typically shows all the most updated details.  Ex:  The screenshot above you can see the lines that read ‘COMPATIBILITY WITH WORDPRESS 3.5.1 UNKNOWN’.  BUT when you click on the DETAILS link you’ll see the updated information on the plugin says it IS actually compatible with WordPress 3.5.1.  So in this case, I would feel comfortable running the update for this plugin.  And since I have made a backup and know how to restore the backup if there’s any problems during the upgrade process, I’d say it’s ok to move forward.

view-plugin-details copy
Once you are done updating all of your plugins that you first confirm are compatible with the new site version of WordPress  you’re about to install, then go ahead and install the actual WordPress upgrade.  A reminder screenshot where to click is posted below, for your convenience:

where-to-look-to-find-wordpress-updates copy

 

STEP 5:  TEST, TEST, TEST!

This is another SERIOUSLY important step to properly maintaining your site.  Don’t run your updates and just walk away assuming everything went great.  After ALL the updates are completed, now click thru every page of your website and make sure everything still displays the way you expect.  If you have any comment or signup forms, like for a newsletter or contact page, be sure to send tests using the forms, too.  Sometimes the code for a registration signup can be broken, and if you don’t test it to make sure everything works after all your updates, you risk potential paying clients not being able to contact you thru your site.

So when your web designer tells you about their monthly maintenance plans, definitely take a look at pricing and do some comparative research on who is trustworthy, and who is offering the best monthly deal.  The best approach is to always ask people with established businesses who they use and trust.  And keep in mind that while it may be convenient to search by price alone, make sure the person you hire is actually DOING the monthly work you hire them to do.

If you decide the backup process is to cumbersome for you and you want to consider hiring someone, here are some questions to ask your designer or developer:

  1. Do you offer a monthly maintenance program?  If yes, which one do you recommend for me and why?
  2. Are you doing a monthly backup of the ENTIRE site (files and database)?  And if yes, what point in the day, week or month are you running the backup, and where is the backup located after it’s run?
  3. What is your process for restoring a backup in the event the site ever becomes corrupted?
  4. When updates become available and it is definitely incompatible with my WordPress version, will you charge me more than the usual monthly maintenance fee to find another plugin and install and test it, or is that included?
  5. If I’m paying you to update my website every month, and I decide to run updates on my own and break the site, am I still covered under your monthly maintenance plan?
  6. Are there any exceptions I need to know regarding your monthly plans that may impact your ability to restore my site quickly, in the event a problem ever arises?

Best of luck to you!  And if you ever need assistance figuring out if a monthly maintenance plan is right for you – don’t hesitate to give us a call to discuss all your options.   Our no-contract monthly maintenance packages can be viewed here, and you can reach us at 201-410-4320 or contact us with our online form anytime.