How To Enable Automatic Updates For WordPress Themes
April 1st, 2017 | by Ravi Chahar || 3 Comments |
Keeping your WordPress website up to date is the step to include in your everyday list. Handling a WordPress website requires some security concerns to be taken care of.
It’s always recommended to keep the WordPress core, plugins and the themes updated because older version can be proved to be the reasons to get your website hacked.
And it’s possible that older themes or plugins can conflict with your latest WordPress version. Have you ever thought to enable automatic updates for WordPress themes?
Yes, you can easily enable automatic updates. Though if you’re a regular user then it can be done manually but still, you shouldn’t take any chance.
In this tutorial, you will learn two ways to accomplish this task.
Add a code in the functions.php file to activate automatic updates
As you all know functions.php is one of the main files handling your website. Every WordPress theme contains this file having all the functions and filters.
To edit this file you can use your WordPress admin panel or the cPanel using your web hosting account.
From admin panel, go to Appearance>>Editor>>functions.php file.
If you choose to use the cPanel then login to it and open the file manager>>wp-content>>themes>>theme name>>functions.php file.
Add this code and save the file.
You have successfully enabled automatic updates for your themes. Whenever any update is available, it will get updated.
No manual action is required.
Use a plugin to enable automatic updates for WordPress themes.
For WordPress users, the plugins are their best friends and most of the people seek for a plugin instead of messing up with the codes.
To enable theme updates, you have to install and activate Advanced Automatic Updates plugin.
After installation, go to Settings>>Advanced Automatic Updates and you will see all the options to handle the plugins and themes updates.
It’s recommended to enable automatic updates only for the minor and security updates. The bigger updates should be done manually.
So check the recommended box and the themes section. You can also use this plugin to enable automatic updates for WordPress plugins.
This plugin gives you the freedom to add your email address so that you can get notified whenever any update gets done.
It’s important to know about the updates so that you can check your website if it’s running perfectly or not. Sometimes a plugin or theme update can conflict with any other plugin. So it’s important to keep an eye on it.
After all the settings, click on the save button and congrats, you have successfully done your job.
NOTE : Don’t add the above-mentioned code if you decide to use this plugin.
Two methods shouldn’t be used, it may break your website. You would be happy to know that you can also enable automatic updates for WordPress plugins.
Can You Now Enable Automatic Updates For WordPress Plugins
WordPress users always get a surprise with its tweaks. These automatic updates can really help you keep your website updated.
Just a couple of day ago, one of our clients had an issue and it turned out to be her outdated plugin. You shouldn’t make such mistakes. Always use the latest plugins and themes.
I hope it’s easy to enable automatic updates for WordPress themes. If you still have any doubt, you can drop a comment.
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Great info bro.
Updating themes is one of the most important part of keeping my blog secure. I have been in a issue with this.
So I now keep all my themes and plugins updated automatically. I am taking paid subscriptions from jetpack, vaultpress and all that for this purpose. this sounds crazy but worth paying.
BTW, doing is with a plugin is very easy. I did not know about that earlier.
Thanks for sharing man
Hey Vashishtha,
Using automatic updates is favorable if you don’t have enough time to manage your blog. If you can check it every day then it’s better to do it manually.
VaultPress is one of the best plugins to use. Though I have never thought to get a paid subscription of Jetpack or any because I manage it all manually.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Great tutorial on automating the WordPress updates. I personally prefer to add the code to my functions file, this way I won’t have to use a plugin.
To tell you the truth, I had never heard of the automatic upgrade plugin. It’s nice to know that there are all kinds of plugins that help us accomplish something on our WordPress blogs.
Thanks for letting us know that you can’t use both the plugin and the code otherwise our site will break.
I am sure that your tutorial will help bloggers who don’t want to be bothered by updating their blog every time a new update comes out.
Have a great day!
Susan