Why should I update plugins or WordPress every time?

[up16]

Please help me to know why should I need to update plugins or WordPress every time.

[not2easy]

For your site's security. Plugins give third parties access to your WP core files, this can become a major vulnerability if you are not careful. It is the number 1 inroad for malware and hacked sites.

WP updates offer both security and efficiency improvements. Keep using old versions at your own risk.

[tangor]

Security is not the only reason to remain up-to-date: Functionality!

Software evolves over time, functions change. At some point, if you do not keep up, your site becomes old hat in a constantly changing landscape.

[tangor]

Oh! Welcome to Webmasterworld up16!

Always nice to have new members!

[NickMNS]

Security is not the only reason to remain up-to-date: Functionality!

This is true. But...

it must be stressed
Security!
Security!
Security!
You must update your plugins, or else your website will be hacked.

[engine]

Also, remove any plugins you're not using.

I'll also repeat the message about security. There are bots out there looking for weaknesses, and if it's your site with the vulnerability you'll regret it for a very long time.

[martinibuster]

In addition to security, plugins are updated because they are constantly fixing coding errors, some of which might be because of something that changed in the WordPress core.

So it makes sense to update to keep the site functioning normally.

You can also enable automatic updates so you don't have to do anything manually. Arguably a good idea.

[tanger]

Hello dear friends,

new to this site - and to the Forum as well. But i like the site WebmasterWord - since it covers lots of great topics, forums and subforums.

i also like WordPress. And i guess that youre right:

Security is not the only reason to remain up-to-date: Functionality!
Software evolves over time, functions change. At some point, if you do not keep up, your site becomes old hat in a constantly changing landscape.

i only can second this statement. Btw: the server needs to meet special conditions if we want to be able to run the automatic plugin (and theme) update-process

In other words: not every server is able to do the auto-update-process without hassle - what do you say!?

look forward to hear from you

have a great day.

regards
Tanger

[not2easy]

Hello Tanger and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

not every server is able to do the auto-update-process without hassle - what do you say!?

On the WordPress "Home" page of your site you can see an evaluation of your WordPress environment - suggestions of things to improve. For example there may be the suggestion to use a newer version of PHP, so if that is not something you can control, you might consider seeking a better host for your site.

[tanger]

hello dear not2Easy

many thanks for the quick reply - great to hear from you.

Certainly - i will have a closer look at this page.

Many many thanks for the quick reply.

greetings