“Why should I update my software and backup my site?”
Or
“I know I should but I don’t have the time.”
Or
“Bad things only happen to other people. Not to me.”
If it ain’t broken don’t try to fix it. Right? (And remember kids, “ain’t” ain’t a word.)
Your website may not be broken today if you wait long enough it will be.
It’s not a question of will your website break. It’s a question of when will it break. The when will probably be when either you really need it to be working (that’s happened to me) or you have the least amount of time to deal with fixing it.
“My site works fine. Why should I update it?”
“I know I should update my site but I’m afraid it will break if I do.”
Your website may work now. Your website might break when you update it. Both are true.
Also true:
If you don’t update your site eventually it will break.
Likely the first thing to happen is one or more of your plugins will stop working.
Why do plugins stop working?
Plugins are written to work with a specific version of PHP. Usually the version of PHP which is current when the author is writing the plugin. The version of PHP your website has available is controlled to some extent by the hosting company. PHP is like any software. New revisions are released to add functions, fix bugs and patch vulnerabilities.
If you have an old plugin, or a very old version of WordPress, at some point your hosting company is going to upgrade PHP to a version that will no longer run the plugin you have installed. Then your website will not work correctly. Or at all.
If the author is maintaining the plugin or theme he will update it to work with current versions of PHP and this will not (should not) become a problem.
WordPress may change the way things work as well. It’s becoming more common for hosting companies to force upgrades of WordPress (yes, they can update WordPress without asking you) to protect their servers from being hacked. That means they could update your website to the latest version of WordPress and one or more of your plugins may not work with that version.
If you ever see things that look like this:
Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite.com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead. in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 3495 Notice: Undefined index: name in /hermes/bosnaweb13a/t7309/ipg.home/yourwebsite .com/wp-content/plugins/mojo-marketplace-wp-plugin/inc/tests.php on line 109
That means your site is broken and you need to be updating.
If you see this:
called with an argument that is deprecated
That means you are using outdated software.
But wait, there’s more.
Beyond something on your site simply not working is the chance of your site being infected or hacked.
Old versions of WordPress, plugins and themes have security vulnerabilities in them which hackers are looking to exploit. Hackers know the security flaws in the older version of WordPress and popular plugins and have ways of looking for sites still running those older versions of the software. This makes you a prime target if your software is out of date.
What to do about it?
You can hope nothing goes wrong. That is what many people do. You should know however that “hope” is not a process. No amount of hope will fix things if they’ve gone wrong beyond repair.
The smarter thing to do, an actual process in fact, is to periodically update your software. And to backup your existing software and database in case something does go wrong during the updating process. Because it can. I haven’t gotten a database crash or a White Screen of Death in a few years but I know one is waiting for me when I least have time to deal with it.
Safely updating your WordPress website:
1. How do you update plugins, themes and the WordPress core?
Not difficult at all. Click on the update tab in WordPress, check the boxes, hit the update button.
Cross fingers. Hold breath. Wait for it to finish.
Yes. It does seem to be taking way too long…
2. Why backup your files and database before updating?
Sometimes the update will break something. Sometimes the update is broken. Programmers are not perfect. Sometimes new versions of software introduce new problems. The updates may not be compatible with other software you have on your site.
There are assorted plugins that will create archive files of your file system. You can also manually download your files via FTP. FTP is the second best way to restore your files.
There are plugins that will backup your database and restore it as well (so long as WordPress is still functional) if things go wrong. You can also backup and restore your database via cPanel.
The best backup/restore process for most people in most cases is an automated backup/restore service provided by their hosting company. These are typically free with your plan or low cost, easy to use, and effective.
3. If things go really really wrong you may have to reinstall WordPress.
I’ve had this happen before. It’s a pain in the butt. Especially since you’ll want to do this without losing all your content and customization.
You can completely replace a broken version of WordPress via FTP. It’s simply a matter of knowing which files to not replace.
4. How to fix it if your site become stuck in maintenance mode.
It’s not complicated but you’ll need FTP access to do it. Else you website is stuck in maintenance mode for ever and ever. Have and know your FTP logon creditials.
Here’s the truth.
You can do all this yourself. You can teach yourself all of this.
Or I can teach you. When I build a website for someone I can make tutorial videos for them. If I do so I always include a video about backing up and updating.
Or I can do it for you. Purchase a WordPress Maintenance Plan and twice a month I’ll backup and update your WordPress core, plugins and themes. Any problems that arise as a result of the updates I will fix.
Or maybe you’re right. Maybe it really will never happen to you.