If you’re running a WordPress blog and notice you have multiple updates available for your installed plugins, have you ever wondered how it was done? Have you ever wondered if it was safe to allow for the Automatic Upgrade of your plugins?

WordPress Automatic Plugin Update

The process is a lot easier than previous versions of WordPress. Before, you would download the new plugin, deactivate the old one, upload the new one, and then reactivate the plugin.

The  new system (since WordPress version 2.5) allows your WordPress blog to do everything for you.

How To Upgrade WordPress Plugins Automatically

As previously mentioned, it is really easy to upgrade a plugin.

First Open your Dashboard and click on the PLUGINS link in the navgation menu on left side of the page.

Then select the plugin you wish to upgrade and click on the upgrade automatically link that is shown. This will take you to the next screen where WordPress will automatically;

• Attempt to download the latest version of the plugin from WordPress’ plugin repository
• Unpack (or uncompress) the plugin
• Deactivate the current plugin you have installed
• Remove the plugin you currently have installed
• Move the new plugin into the plugin directory
• and then re-Activates the plugin

If any of the above actions fail during the upgrade process, WordPress will inform you what part failed and stop. Your blog will still work as the plugin will be deactivated, so nothing (hopefully) will break. If the plugin was coded properly then there should be no issues with it being deactivated. You can try and repeat the upgrade automatic process again to see if it passes, but if it fails, you will probably have to install the plugin manually.

The Manual WordPress Plugin Upgrade

Process

The manual process of upgrading a WordPress plugin is pretty much as descibed above, except you will just have to physically do the work to get it done.

You will have to:

• Download the latest plugin version
• Uncompress the file (it is usually in ZIP format)
• Deactivate the plugin you currently have on your website (Admin Dashboard->Plugins->Deactivate)
• Upload/Replace the plugin in your wp-content->plugins
• Reactivate the plugin

Again, it is pretty straight forward and just involves you doing more work.

There you have it, a pretty simple way to keep your WordPress blog plugins updated. Updating your the plugins on your WordPress blog helps ensure your website runs smoothly without any issues. Updates might also introduce new features or fix broken bits of older plugins. You can usually see what changes have been done to a particular plugin too when you click on the View version **.** Details links that accompanies the automatic upgrade link for each plugin you have installed. The cool feature about this is, it will load the details of the plugin inline with your current window so you will not need to view another webpage.

If you have any questions about updating your WordPress plugins, don’t hesitate to ask!

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