WordPress, a content management system, is software just like any other. In order to maintain it, regular updates need to occur to preserve its performance, security, and more.

Think of it like Apple updates, every few months or so, new updates are required to ensure your device works efficiently. Similarly, WordPress works in the same way.

Understanding WordPress Updates

WordPress updates are changes to the WordPress software that are released periodically and include new features, bug fixes, and security improvements.

It is important to update your WordPress software to ensure that your site is secure and continues to function properly.

The reasons why WordPress updates are important are as follows:

Features: With new features being added to the updated version of WordPress, the new features will add a sense of improvement to the functionality of your website.

Bug Fixes: You can think of bug fixes as errors that cause your site to fall short. Updating your WordPress site allows for these problems to be resolved, therefore enhancing your website's performance and preventing errors from occurring.

Compatibility: Certain plugins may come out that prevent your website from fully working properly. When WordPress updates, it includes compatibility improvements to ensure that your site works properly.

The Role of WordPress Updates in Site Security

When WordPress is updated, older generations often have a flaw within the core, which makes it imperative to update, or you risk your site falling into security threats, malware, and a possible breach.

The consequences of failing to update your WordPress site include the risk of your website simply existing. Your WordPress website will demand maintenance and support to help it jumpstart once again.

Your site will be open to security threats, risking business and customer information; therefore, you will lose business trust. Another consequence is the possibility of losing your rank.

Since your website is not optimized due to the failed attempt at updating, you risk security breaches, bug fixes, features, and compatibility.

Sooner or later, your website will resemble an old fossil, forgotten on the interwebs.

Benefits of Regular WordPress Updates

Whether or not it is obvious, we feel it is important to assert the importance of regular WordPress updates.

Improved Security: is necessary and quite direct. Improved site security helps you maintain trust in your business, which includes business data as well as customer personal information.

Features and Functionality: are necessary to keep your website up and running. You wouldn’t want customers to find it difficult to use your website; more so, you want to be able to use it yourself and make it accessible to everyone to best drive traffic.

Bug Fixes and Performance: Bug fixes can improve performance and ensure that no errors take place.
If your website is updated, fully functioning, and maintaining customer data, you’ve already offered a friendly user experience, which, granted, is half the effort.

5 Steps to Ensuring Compatibility with Themes and Plugins

Step 1: Make sure strings are available for translation

Since you’re hoping your website will be accessible by everyone around the world, it is necessary that your website be able to translate. In order to begin, you must first identify and ensure that all the strings are available to be translated into language files.

Step 2: Make sure all translated strings appear on front-end

It’s important that all words appear on the site’s front-end. Words failing to appear need to be troubleshooted and edited to make sure they are translated.

Step 3: Confirm that all custom post types and more are translatable

A file named ‘wpml-config.xml’ is needed to be placed in the root folder of the theme or plugin you intend to use. Any other customer post that you need translating should be added within this file.

Step 4: Confirm that special features are translatable

Any special features such as widgets, galleries, sliders, etc. should be made available to be translated.

Step 5: Test, test, test!

To ensure that all the work is translated, it is important that you are able to try them out in different languages which include RTL languages.

Utilizing 24/7 Customer Support for WordPress Updates

If your hosting provider isn’t offering you a safe environment to seek support, then that’s where Support Guru comes in.

Customer Support is necessary, and even though you might be able to update everything on your own, utilizing a support team may be more beneficial, since we take care of the tech and leave room for you to focus on your business.

Updating your WordPress core, security, and maximizing your performance is our specialty.

If you encounter a problem while updating your WordPress site, all you have to do is real us through the live-chat box provided, we guarantee a solution and shoot for less than 10 minutes to resolve whatever you encounter.

Support Guru offers:

Proactive Monitoring: 24/7 monitoring to ensure that your WordPress is up to date

Backup: To ensure that your files are stored, in case of a breach.

Secure Hosting Environment: Regardless of your site being present on a separate hosting provider, Support Guru takes care of your hosting environment making sure your security is up to date.

Implement Strong User Security Practices: Security measures such as 2FA are placed, along with SSL Certificates to keep security breaches at bay, along with malware and hacking.

Stay Informed

In order to best stay ahead and hit every new release of an update, you can best check the WordPress website. Within the news section of the website, the announcements section promotes the release of new updates.

Since your website is backed up, this will allow you to restore your site if one of the updates goes wrong.

Install updates from trusted sources. It’s very common nowadays to have websites promote new updates and easier installations.

Test updates on staging sites before installing them on your live website.