Blogging Bites #52

​COACHING · RESOURCES · PAST TIPS · INSTAGRAM​

Hey Reader,

Newsletter #52 is here!! Cheers to one year of sharing blogging & business tips with you and this amazing community! 🥂

Yesterday I sent out a brief survey to get to know you and how I can help you better! I'd so appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill it out here ☺️ I will be reviewing every response so thank you for helping me help you!

Okay so this week I want to answer a common question I get asked: how do I update plugins?

Heads up - this is a long one but I hope it helps things make more sense. I've got my top tips down below if you want to skip ahead!

But first, let's talk about why updates are such a big deal.

Why does it matter how or when you update plugins?

WordPress, theme, and plugin updates keep everything functioning smoothly and prevent security threats. Oftentimes there are bug fixes and new features rolled out in updates.

However, like new recipes, new updates don't always go to plan.

You test your recipes in your kitchen until they're absolutely perfect, right?

You hit publish. Your readers try them. 9 times out of 10 they turn out great for them, too!

However, everyone's kitchen is different. There are factors (temperature, appliances, techniques, etc.) outside of your control that can cause a problem when someone makes your recipe in their own kitchen.

The same goes for plugins and themes.

Developers can test their plugins all they want, but everyone's site is different. Plugins add code to your site, and sometimes one plugin's code doesn't react well with another's.

Therefore, the early adopters of the updates might experience bugs at first. Once the developers get that feedback from the early adopters, they can go in and fix the bugs.

Here are my top 5 tips for updating plugins!

1) Turn off auto-updates on major updates.
​Major updates, like WordPress core updates, often come with bugs that need to be fixed. Instead of subjecting your site to the potential glitches, turn off auto-updates and update manually once the coast is clear. Your host should be able to turn these off for you. And if you do accidentally auto-update, you can ask your host to roll it back or use this WP Downgrade plugin.

2) Wait and then update one plugin at a time.​
To piggy-back off of tip #1, I recommend waiting a week or two before updating your plugins. You should be able to see when the update was released by clicking on "View verson X.X.X details".

Example here:

Of course, there's the exception of security threats - if the changelog says the update is important for site security, then you'll probably want to update right away.

3) Back up your site before updating.​
My host automatically backs up my website every day, but I run an extra, local backup myself before updating any plugins *just in case*. I use UpdraftPlus (the free version) to do this!

4) If it's a major update or one you're nervous about, test it in a staging environment first.​
If you're with a good quality host, they should have the option for you to create a staging website. This basically makes a private copy of your website so that you can test things out before pushing any changes live.

5) If something breaks, roll it back.​
If you update something and notice an error on your site afterwards, don't panic! Most of the time these things are reversible (especially if you have a good host). I've noticed issues many times after updating plugins and I just reach out to my host and they roll it back for me immediately. Problem solved!

Want more info on updating plugins? Andrew from NerdPress has a great article about it here!

You might've noticed a common theme among these tips 👉 having a good quality host is huge!

I've personally been using BigScoots for years and cannot recommend them enough. They help with so many technical things beyond hosting and they even update my plugins for me!

So, bonus tip: ask BigScoots to update your plugins for you 🤪

For transparency: this isn't sponsored by BigScoots (I am an affiliate, though - here's my link if you want to sign up with them). I just really love them and they've made my life as a blogger a lot easier over the years 😊

Katie & Sandy chatted with our coaching group a few weeks ago and I had the pleasure of meeting them in person while they were here for Tastemaker!

Tune in! 🎧 Katie from BigScoots explains hosting and why it's so important in a way that's easy to understand! Tune in here!

Happy blogging!
-Kayla