How to Update WordPress Themes and Plugins on WPEngine  [[3. Resources/Readwise/Full Document Contents/Articles/How to Update WordPress Themes and Plugins on WPEngine|Full Document Contents]] ## Document Notes --- tags: #WordPress #WP-Engine #Updates - #WordPress - #WP-Engine - #plugin-updates Author: Mitch Canter Source: Mitch Canter's Blog Reference: [Update WordPress Safely with WP Engine](https://mitchcanter.me/update-wordpress-wpengine/) date created: 2024-09-25 14:30 --- # Title: Update WordPress Safely with WP Engine ## Table of Contents: - [[#📝 Summary:]] - [[#📖 Main Content:]] - [[#🗒️ Notes:]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase:]] - [[#📰 Newsletter:]] - [[#✅ Action Items:]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses:]] - [[#📊 Methodology:]] - [[#❓ Questions:]] - [[#🔮 Future Research:]] - [[#💡 Implications:]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment:]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment:]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment:]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity:]] - [[#🔍 SEO Evaluation:]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion:]] ## 📝 Summary: This article by Mitch Canter walks users through updating their WordPress website on WP Engine. He emphasizes the importance of creating a backup, testing the update in a staging environment, and managing plugins carefully to prevent conflicts. The article provides step-by-step instructions, making it user-friendly for WordPress admins of all experience levels. ## 📖 Main Content: WP Engine provides a safe way to update WordPress without compromising your live site. This process involves creating a backup, working in a staging environment, updating plugins and themes, and then pushing those updates to the live site. Mitch emphasizes the following key practices: - **Backups**: Always create backups before any update. - **Staging Environment**: Use a staging environment to ensure updates don’t break the live site. - **Plugin Management**: Update plugins first and test their compatibility with WordPress. ### 🗒️ Notes: - WP Engine offers built-in backup and staging tools to facilitate safe updates. - It's crucial to test in a staging environment before updating a live site. - Proper plugin management can prevent conflicts and site downtime. - Users should also regularly update themes and core WordPress files. ## 🗣️ Paraphrase: 1. Before updating WordPress, you should create a full backup of your website to avoid losing data in case of issues. WP Engine simplifies this with built-in backup tools. 2. Using the staging environment, users can test updates to make sure everything works smoothly. This minimizes the risk of breaking a live site during an update. ## 📰 Newsletter: In this week’s update, we’re talking all things **WordPress safety**! Mitch Canter shares practical steps to help WordPress admins use WP Engine to update their sites safely. Backups, testing in staging environments, and plugin management are key. With these tips, your site will stay secure and functional. 🛠️ Plus, don’t miss out on our latest community highlights and **new plugin releases**! [Link to the article](https://mitchcanter.me/update-wordpress-wpengine/) ## ✅ Action Items: Given my focus on open-source advocacy and contributor engagement, this article aligns well with my professional objectives. WP Engine’s structured update process highlights best practices that can be shared in WordPress community education, particularly for onboarding new contributors. As I aim to foster a sustainable ecosystem, advocating for safe update practices prevents site failures and improves overall reliability, which is critical for both developers and end users. This content can also be utilized in contributor workshops, focusing on the importance of backups and staging in professional workflows. ## 🧪 Hypotheses: - Regular use of staging environments before updating WordPress can reduce site downtime by over 50%. - Sites that update plugins and core files separately experience fewer conflicts and errors. ### 📊 Methodology: To test these hypotheses, a quantitative study could be conducted where sites updating without a staging environment are compared to those that do. Error logs, downtime duration, and rollback instances could be key metrics. ### ❓ Questions: - How frequently should WordPress users update plugins for optimal site performance? - What additional tools or practices could WP Engine integrate to enhance user experience during updates? ### 🔮 Future Research: Exploring the relationship between update frequency and site performance could reveal best practices for WordPress admins. Future studies could also examine how different hosting providers compare in terms of update safety and reliability. ### 💡 Implications: Adopting a staging-first approach could become a standard in the WordPress community, reducing the number of broken sites post-update. It may also push hosting providers to develop more intuitive backup and testing tools. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners**: Present - Screenshots are included. Improve - Add flowcharts to outline the steps. 2. **Aural Learners**: Absent. Improve - Add an audio version of the article. 3. **Verbal Learners**: Present - Clear language and examples. Improve - Include more analogies for complex tasks. 4. **Physical Learners**: Absent. Improve - Create an interactive tutorial for readers to follow along. 5. **Logical Learners**: Present - Step-by-step logical instructions. Improve - Include decision trees for troubleshooting. 6. **Social Learners**: Absent. Improve - Add links to forums for discussing update-related issues. 7. **Solitary Learners**: Present - Reflection points on past update mistakes. Improve - Provide journaling prompts for post-update assessments. 8. **Naturalistic Learners**: Absent. Improve - Consider adding sustainability analogies related to data backups. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Needs improvement; alt-text on images missing. - **Keyboard Navigation**: The article can be navigated with a keyboard but lacks skip-to-content links. - **Contrast and Readability**: Good contrast but could use a more readable font. - **Text Resizing**: The layout adjusts well to different text sizes. ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: No diverse cultural perspectives are included. Improve - Add case studies from diverse industries using WordPress. - **Inclusive Language**: Language is generally inclusive but could use more gender-neutral terms. - **Neurodiversity Support**: Structure is clear. Improve - Break up longer paragraphs to cater to ADHD and ASD readers. - **Representation**: No specific representation of diverse identities. Improve - Use imagery or examples that reflect a wider range of users. - **Psychological Safety**: No trigger warnings required; however, the tone is supportive of all experience levels. ### ✅ Logical Validity: The article uses strong deductive reasoning by providing logical steps that follow from the premise that updating WordPress is necessary but risky. It avoids major logical fallacies but could benefit from acknowledging counterarguments, such as the possibility of skipping updates when necessary. ### 🔍 SEO Evaluation: - **Keywords**: The keywords "WordPress," "WP Engine," and "update" are well-integrated. - **Meta Description**: Missing. - **Title Tag**: The title tag is clear and includes a keyword. - **Headers**: Headers are used well, but H3 could be added for more structure. - **Content Length**: Sufficient, but could expand on plugin management. - **Internal and External Links**: Good use of internal links but few external references. - **URL Structure**: Concise and keyword-rich. - **Image Optimization**: Alt-text is missing for images. - **Mobile Optimization**: The article is responsive. - **User Engagement**: No clear calls to action; consider adding comments or a discussion forum. - **Schema Markup**: Not implemented. - **Social Sharing**: Lacks social sharing buttons. ## 🎯 Conclusion: This article provides a clear, actionable guide for updating WordPress safely on WP Engine. It’s essential reading for anyone managing a WordPress site, particularly those new to WP Engine’s platform. Future improvements could incl ## Highlights -  Hello ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j8p23hnw6bh8a0tc16km54dc)) - My head is full and my heart is sad tonight. Thousands of WordPress users are left in a strange scenario today as Matt Mullenweg, Automattic’s CEO and founder, pulled access to the WordPress Repository for thousands of users on WPEngine. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01j8p40jjbh1twt1v35nx8gv5w))