While updating your WordPress plugins is not rocket science, knowing what to update and when is very important for the wellbeing of your website
Not all plugins should be updated as soon as they have a new version available!
While you peruse your WordPress plugins updates, ensure you check the following:
- Click the “View version xxx details” (where “xxx” is the version number) link on the right of each plugin update. This will show you what changes have been done to this plugin. While you may not understand 100% of the developer’s jargon, you may discover some new features have arrived, something that may serve your website visitors well!
- Check the “Compatibility with WordPress x.x.x (where “x.x.x.” is your WordPress version). This is VERY important. Although seeing “100% (according to its author) cannot guarantee you it will work 100%, it’s better than seeing a lower percentage. Sometimes you’ll notice that it states, for example “67% (x people out of x say it works)” where “x” is the number of people. This, my friend, should trigger an alarm in your mind that stops you from updating this specific plugin. This may mean that this specific update is not fully functional and I would recommend to be patient until the developer fixes it so you can safely update. If you update it anyway, you’re running the risk of breaking parts of your website that could take hours to fix.
- Last, but not least, simply check the name of the plugin and just pause for a moment to think whether you truly need that plugin or not. Sometimes, you can either find an easier way to achieve what this plugins does or with fewer plugins, something that will help your website run better and faster.
