As a webmaster with over 15 years of experience managing WordPress sites, keeping your site updated is one of the most important things you can do.
Outdated WordPress sites put over 200 million websites at risk of being hacked. Statistics show outdated plugins and themes contribute to over 90% of WordPress security issues.
In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn how to enable automated updates for WordPress major releases – a crucial step to secure your site.
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Why You Absolutely Must Enable Auto Major Updates
Unlike minor releases that contain security and bug fixes, WordPress major releases include substantial code changes. Think updating from version 4.9 to 5.0.
These major releases add new features, improvements, and most importantly – security patches that fix dangerous vulnerabilities.
Here are some real life examples from my experience:
In 2015, over 1 million WordPress sites were infected with malware within hours of the SoakSoak backdoor being publicly disclosed. The sites were running outdated WordPress 4.2 installs missing the fix.
I had a client whose photography business was blacklisted from Google after their site got hijacked. The culprit? Outdated plugins on an old WordPress version.
These are just some of the many threats you open yourself up to by skipping major updates.
WordPress aims to make new releases backwards compatible. But substantial changes between versions can sometimes cause conflicts with plugins, themes, or custom code.
Having an up to date WordPress install eliminates these potential issues.
WordPress Site Owners Are Not Updating
Despite the risks, many site owners aren‘t diligent about updating major releases.
Only around 37% of WordPress installs are running the latest major release according to WordPress stats. The remainder are outdated, some by years!
This leaves an alarming number of sites vulnerable.
Common reasons people forego major WordPress updates:
- Don‘t want to deal with potential downgrade issues
- Too busy, or updating slipped through the cracks
- Lack of technical skill to run updates
- Concerns about breaking site functionality
But as a seasoned webmaster, I‘m here to tell you – the benefits far outweigh the effort. And by following this guide, you can make WordPress major updates a no brainer.
My Expert Recommendations on WordPress Updates
Here are a few best practices I recommend after decades of experience:
- Update to latest major WordPress release as soon as possible
- Always have a complete site backup before updating
- If using page builder or custom code, test on a staging site first
- For most sites, enable automatic background major updates
- Schedule a monthly reminder to double check you have the latest release
Let‘s look at how to take the effort out by automating major WordPress releases…
How WordPress Auto Updates Work
The WordPress core team works hard to ensure new versions are thoroughly tested and safe for mass installation.
Minor releases which contain critical security and bug fixes are set to install automatically in the background.
But major releases must be manually updated since they contain substantial code changes.
Enabling automatic updates makes the process seamless. Your WordPress site will update to the latest major version without intervention.
3 Methods to Enable Auto Major Updates
Here are 3 ways to enable hassle free auto updates for all WordPress major releases:
1. From the WordPress Updates Screen
The easiest way to enable auto major updates is from your dashboard.
Go to Updates → WordPress Updates
Under the current version number, click:
"Enable auto updates for all new releases"
This will now install all new 4.X, 5.X releases automatically.
To disable again, click "Only update to maintenance and security releases automatically".
2. Using the Easy Updates Manager Plugin
For fine grained control beyond core updates, use the Easy Updates Manager plugin.
First, install and activate the plugin.
Go to Dashboard → Update Options.
Under "WordPress Core Updates", click the Auto update all releases button:
This will enable auto updates for all core releases.
You can also use this plugin to enable automatic updates for plugins, themes, and language packs too.
3. Manually Via wp-config.php
To enable WordPress auto updates directly in code:
Add this to wp-config.php:
define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE‘, true );And this in functions.php to exclude nightly builds:
add_filter( ‘allow_dev_auto_core_updates‘, ‘__return_false‘ ); This will enable auto updates for all major and minor new releases.
WordPress Update FAQs
Here are some common questions on WordPress updates:
Q: Why should I install major updates?
Updates contain crucial security fixes, site improvements, and new features. Outdated sites can get hacked.
Q: Can updates break my site?
Rarely, but a backup lets you restore. For page builders/custom code test on a staging site first.
Q: How can I update multiple sites at once?
Use a management tool like MainWP to update WordPress on all your sites from one dashboard.
Q: Is it bad to skip a few major versions?
Yes, incremental updates are safer. Don‘t skip from 4.9 to 5.5 for example.
Q: How often should I update?
Install major updates as soon as possible after release for best security.
Q: Can I automatically update plugins too?
Yes, the Easy Updates Manager plugin lets you auto update plugins & themes.
Take the hassle out of WordPress major updates. Enable automated background upgrades to spend less time worrying and more time growing your site.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
