Why updates matter
Most of the code on a small business website was written by someone else: the CMS team, the theme author and the people behind each plugin. They release fixes for bugs and security holes regularly. Sites that skip those updates are the ones that end up with spam pages, redirects to strange sites or a host warning about malware. Updates are dull work, and that's exactly why they get skipped.
How we apply them
- Take a fresh backup of the files and the database.
- Read the release notes for anything that changes how a part works.
- Apply updates one part at a time, starting with security fixes.
- Check the pages that matter: home, contact form, booking or shop pages, and anything with a login.
- If something broke, restore from the backup and look into it before trying again.
For larger sites, or updates that change a lot, we can test on a copy of the site first and only update the live site once the copy looks right.
Security patches
When a plugin or theme has a known security hole and a fix is out, we move it to the front of the line instead of waiting for the regular update round. If no fix exists yet, we tell you the options, which might mean switching the plugin off for a while or replacing it.
Plugins nobody maintains
Older sites often carry plugins whose authors stopped updating them years ago. Those stay a risk however careful the rest of the upkeep is. When we find one, we list it with a suggested replacement and leave the decision to you.
Questions
Do you turn on automatic updates?
For some small, low-risk parts, yes. For the CMS core, the theme and plugins that touch forms, payments or bookings, we prefer to update by hand so someone checks the site afterward.
What if an update breaks my site?
We restore the backup taken just before it, so the site goes back to how it was. Then we find the cause and try the update again once it's fixed.
Send the address of your website and tell us what bugs you about keeping it up. We reply with questions or a written quote for a plan.