hen it comes to the process of updating WordPress, it has always caused a lot of insomnia for many website owners due to the problems that may occur during the update. Although the process may sometimes require no more than a few clicks and the site is updated to the latest version, it may turn into a nightmare if any glitch occurs during or after the update process. The degree of malfunction that may affect the site may range from some problems with some add-ons to a complete cessation of the site.
In order not to be exposed to such a bad situation, especially if your site has many visitors, you must follow all the instructions that we will mention in this article in order to complete the process of updating WordPress to the fullest extent, while completely avoiding the problems that may occur.
The importance of keeping your site updated to the latest version at all times
In fact, most of the updates that experts work on are security updates and are often important. Updates are issued to fill security gaps through which hackers can access sensitive information or even penetrate the entire site. Although WordPress updates are important in raising the level of site security, in a study conducted by thesslstore in 2018, it was found that 49.07% of the 10,000 most popular WordPress sites are not using the latest version of WordPress. Not only that, but the study also found that 33.58% of those sites are two versions behind the latest update!
Failure to constantly follow up on updates and install them whenever they are released; It may leave your site vulnerable to hackers due to unclosed vulnerabilities. This is why it is always recommended to update WordPress, in addition to updating the plugins and templates that you use on the site, immediately upon its release to always protect your site and to also obtain the latest and most up-to-date features.
Now that the extreme importance of updates and the necessity of implementing them quickly has become completely clear, we will explain how to perform the update process safely while avoiding any errors that may occur.
Make a backup copy before updating WordPress
In order to ensure that your WordPress site is not exposed to any malfunction that would put it out of service, and to greatly reduce the damage with the possibility of recovering from it if it occurs; It is recommended to create a backup copy of your WordPress site . This step is the first and most important thing to do before starting the update. The backup can be created either manually or through add-ons that can be installed to do just this, such as the UpdraftPlus add-on . All WordPress files must be copied, which include:
- WordPress database
- All images and media uploads
- Site-specific additions and features
- WordPress core files
This step must be carried out carefully because it will be your way to restore your site to the way it was when any problem occurred due to the update process. For this reason, it is necessary to create a backup copy and save it in a private place so that it can be used if necessary.
The most important ways to update WordPress securely
There are three ways through which you can update your WordPress site, and each method has its advantages and different steps to implement, and we will explain them in detail:
1) Update via the WordPress website control panel
This method is considered the easiest and simplest among the three methods, as it is uncomplicated and direct. Because of that it can be implemented by all users seamlessly. To implement it, you must first log in to the site as its owner, then go to the Dashboard and click on “Updates.” Here you will see the “Update Now” option if there is a newer version than the current version of your site, in addition to the update information and its version number.
During the update, the site will go into “maintenance mode”. The site will stop working and a message will appear to visitors that it is under maintenance, and all of this will be done automatically without you having to do anything. When the update is completed, the site will return to work automatically as well, and you will see a message welcoming the new version of WordPress, indicating the features and improvements that have been made in the version you upgraded to.
2) Manual update via FTP
If the first method does not work for some reason, or if you prefer to do your work manually, then you should follow this method. The first step that must be taken in this method is to download the latest version of WordPress on your computer from the official website . The downloaded version will be a zip file that you must unzip, and inside it you will find a file called “Wordpress” that contains all the files you need to update your site.
Now you must connect to your FTP client through which the process will be performed. If you do not have one, we advise you to download the free FileZilla . Then choose the files that you previously extracted on your device, and in the “Remote Files” section, you must choose the “Root Folder” file for your site, which usually bears the name “public_html” or the name of your site itself.
Read also: Explaining FTP for beginners, and how to use it to manage your site files
Now all you have to do is select the “Overwrite” options, and the Apply to All Files option. Then start uploading the files to the site to replace the old files with the new ones. After updating, you must return to the site’s control panel, because in some cases the database must also be updated. If that is required, you will find a message informing you that this must be done. Click on the “Update WordPress Database” button to start the process. Thus, the process of updating WordPress manually has ended.
It should be noted that updating in this way will replace the core files of the WordPress system with new files updated with the latest version, while the plugins and templates will remain as they are without modification, and the custom CSS code will not be affected by the modification, unless one of the plugins conflicts with the new update to WordPress.
3) Update using the Staging Site method
Updating using the Staging Site is considered one of the safest and most secure methods, and the incidence of any error is almost non-existent. This method creates another copy of your site, this copy is complete and completely similar to the site, and its goal is to test the new updates before applying them to the main site. In this way, you can avoid and solve any problems that may occur as a result of the upgrade, because you will first apply it to the backup copy of the site, which is a completely separate copy from the main site. When any glitch occurs in the update, you will be able to analyze it, find out its causes, and fix it. If the update is completed successfully in the backup copy, then you can launch the backup copy so that it becomes the official version of the site for visitors.
Some WordPress hosting companies provide this feature by default within the site’s control panel. You can also install an add-on that does this task if the hosting company does not provide it. Because this service is provided by many parties, there is no unified method and similar steps for implementing it. Its implementation varies according to the party providing it, but it is often easy to implement and not complicated.
Update plugins and templates
Updating the plugins and templates installed on your site is no less important than updating the version of WordPress. Updating it is not a complicated process, but can be done through the Updates section of the site’s control panel. All plugins and templates can be updated with the click of a button.
But if you want to choose only specific add-ons to update, without performing a complete upgrade process for all add-ons, you can do that from the Add-ons section in the Control Panel, where there is a complete list of installed add-ons from which you can select what you want to upgrade.’
The same can be done for themes, as the list of installed themes is located in the Appearance section of the Control Panel as well.
Post-update steps
Now that you have finished updating WordPress to the latest version, you want to make sure that everything went well and that the update was completed successfully. To do this, you must check the site and ensure that it is completely free of errors. This is done by following the following steps:
- Clear the cache of the site and the add-ons installed on it to ensure that the site is tested with its new update.
- Visit all your important pages like home page, blogs, checkout pages, shopping cart pages and contact us.
- Test any forms or input fields on your site.
- Make sure all buttons and features are working well.
- Check for any broken links or images.
- Test your site across all major devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
- Test the site on all major browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Mozilla.
What do you do if you encounter a bug on your site?
We do not live in a perfect world without errors, and this of course applies to everything; Even in the process of updating WordPress sites! Who knows what might go wrong during the update process. But don’t worry, there is always a solution for everything. Let us review together the most prominent errors that may occur after the update process and how to fix them:
1) The site is stuck in maintenance mode
As we explained previously, when the update process begins, your site automatically enters maintenance mode, where a message will appear to visitors that the site is under maintenance. The goal of this message is to ensure that no conflict occurs between the operations ongoing on the site and the update process taking place on its files. One of the famous errors that may occur while upgrading the version of WordPress to the latest version is: The site may remain stuck in maintenance mode even though the update is finished.
The WordPress system transfers your site to maintenance mode via the “.maintenance” file, and ending maintenance mode is done by deleting this file, and all of this happens automatically by default. Therefore, when a site gets stuck in maintenance mode, this indicates that the maintenance. To take your site out of maintenance mode, you can simply delete the file yourself manually.
To do this, you need an FTP client program to browse your site’s files. You will find a .maintenance file inside the “Root Folder” of your site, which usually bears the name “public_html” or the name of your site itself. If you cannot delete the maintenance file manually, the solution is to contact the technical support of your site’s hosting company and ask for their help in deleting the file.
2) One of the add-ons may cause a problem
Let’s be honest, when something goes wrong with your site after the update is complete, it’s often one or more plugins that caused the problem. Add-ons need to be constantly developed and updated versions released periodically to ensure their compatibility with the changes that occur with every new WordPress upgrade. As we know, add-ons are developed by independent parties, which may be companies or independent developers, and they may be late or never issue updates that are compatible with new versions of WordPress. Which will inevitably lead to add-ons conflicting with the site and thus causing problems.
To solve this problem, you must first find the add-ons that cause it. This is done by deactivating all add-ons and reactivating them one by one, and making sure that the site still works perfectly when activating each add-on separately, until we reach the add-on responsible for the defect, and then we have several options to fix the defect:
- Search for the problem that occurs online on websites and forums specialized in the WordPress field, perhaps someone may have encountered the same problem. If you find the same problem through research, you will likely find the solution as well.
- Contact the add-on developers, they may provide you with a permanent or temporary solution to the problem. If they do not have a solution, informing them of the problem caused by their add-on is necessary in order for them to issue a solution in the next update.
- Stop activating the add-on responsible for the defect or return to its previous version, if the previous two steps do not work. If the problem persists, and this addition is essential to your site and very important to its functioning, then you can look for an alternative to it.
3) Molds may be responsible for the malfunction
Sometimes some WordPress themes may cause problems that occur after upgrading to a new WordPress version. If you have made modifications to the themes installed on your site, these modifications will be overwritten and replaced during the update process, causing a defect in the site. The steps to fix faulty features are exactly the same as the steps to fix add-ons. You must first search for a solution to the problem on the Internet. If there is no solution, then you can contact the developers of the feature responsible for the defect. You can always stop activating the add-on, restore its previous version, or search for an alternative to it.
4) Check with the hosting company
After the update, everyone who visits the site may find that an internal server error message with code 500 appears. This error message may result from a problem with the hosting company for your site, or as a result of you not having enough memory for your site on the company’s servers. In both cases, you must contact Contact the hosting company to fix the problem.
5) The update process continues without stopping
After starting the update process, a screen will appear informing you that the update is in progress and showing you the progress rate. But you may notice that the update process has taken longer than usual without finishing; This is a problem that can happen. The solution to this problem lies in opening the site’s control panel from another page in the browser, and looking at the current version number of the WordPress version to confirm whether it is the same as the previous one or whether it has been upgraded. The update may have finished, but the site is stuck in the process.
If you have successfully upgraded to the new version, you can safely close the update process page. If the update does not occur, close the current update process page and restart the update again.
6) The problem of the screen of death, eggs, and other problems
The white screen of death problem is known as one of the common problems faced by WordPress website owners, and it usually occurs due to the incompatibility of the new version with the hosting company’s server. In fact, the solution to this problem can also be applied to all the previous problems mentioned and not mentioned as well. The solution consists of only one of two steps, one of which can be applied and solve all the problems that occur radically:
- Re-do the update process, either automatically or manually. A defect may have occurred during the update process, causing all the problems that appeared after it was completed.
- Restore the backup you previously created before starting the update process via FTP client software to return to the previous stable version that your site was in before the upgrade.
Thus, we have learned the most important tips for updating your WordPress site without causing any problems or failures on the site, and what to do if you encounter a problem updating so that your site has received the latest updates safely.
