How to Make Updates to My WordPress Website?

As any web design Manchester agency worth its salt will tell you, the best thing about WordPress is that it is being improved constantly. This means that if you carry out WordPress updates as they are released, you will always have access to the latest features and technology. That’s not the only benefit though. Many of these updates address important security issues and vulnerabilities. So an updated WordPress website is completely safe and secure at all times.

Not to forget that the updates also bring new features and functions for a better experience. So the big question is – how to make updates to your WordPress website? Should you hire a web design Manchester agency for every update? Or should you do it yourself? Well, that’s a personal choice. If you don’t mind taking the time to update your website regularly, that’s great. However, if you are pressed for time, sign up a monthly maintenance contract with your web design Manchester agency. Essentially, there are two ways of making updates to your WordPress website – automatic one-click updates and manual update using FTP. Irrespective of the method you choose, be sure to take a backup of your website before you carry out any updates. 

Automatic One-Click WordPress Update

This is the easy way to update your WordPress website. You can find this option under Dashboard > Plugins. Here you will find all the plugins and themes for which new updates are available. In fact, whenever there’s a new WordPress update, you will see a banner in the admin section. For this to work, you need to configure the FTP credentials so the WordPress system can carry out one click updates for you. Ask your web design Manchester agency to set up one-click updates. All you have to do is head to: Dashboard > Updates >  Click on “Update Now” button.

Manual WordPress Update

Manual WordPress updates can be carried out via FTP.

You will need the FTP login credentials and an FTP client such as File Zilla to get started.

Here are the steps:

  • Download the latest WordPress file (tar.gz or zip format)
  • Unpack the zip archive you’ve just downloaded
  • Deactivate all plugins
  • Via your FTP client, delete the previous version of wp-includes and wp-admin directories on the host
  • Now upload the latest wp-includes and wp-admin directories to your host to replace the recently deleted directories
  • Be sure to replace the old WordPress files with the latest files in the wp-includes and wp-admin directories, sub-directories as well as the root

Parting Thoughts

There you go. These are the steps you need to take to update your WordPress website. If manual updates seem too complicated, ask your web design Manchester agency for help. They will be able to carry out the updates either on a one-off basis or as part of an ongoing maintenance plan.

Don’t have a WordPress website? Need to redesign your WordPress website? Contact Blue Whale Media today for spectacularly spectacular and utterly affordable WordPress websites.

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