How do I enable automatic updates for WordPress, themes, and plugins?
Keeping your WordPress site updated is crucial for maintaining security, adding new features, and improving overall performance. Enabling automatic updates simplifies this process, ensuring your site remains current without requiring manual intervention. This article will guide you through enabling automatic updates for the WordPress core software, themes, and plugins using both the Softaculous WordPress Manager and the WordPress dashboard.
Understanding WordPress Updates
WordPress provides several types of updates:
- Core Updates: Security patches, bug fixes, and new features for the WordPress software itself.
- Theme Updates: Updates for your installed themes to ensure compatibility and security.
- Plugin Updates: Updates for installed plugins that enhance functionality and security.
While WordPress automatically handles minor updates, major updates for the core software, themes, and plugins often require manual approval. You can configure your site to automate these updates as well.
Method 1: Enabling Automatic Updates via Softaculous WordPress Manager
If you prefer to manage your updates through cPanel, you can enable automatic updates using Softaculous:
- Go to cPanel > WordPress Manager by Softaculous.
- Expand your WordPress installation.
- Select the following options:
- Auto Upgrade WordPress Core: Enable
- Auto Upgrade WordPress Themes: Enable
- Auto Upgrade WordPress Plugins: Enable
Method 2: Enabling Automatic Updates via the WordPress Dashboard
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Dashboard > Updates.
- Click on Enable automatic updates for all new versions of WordPress to activate major version updates.
You can enable automatic updates for both themes and plugins directly from the WordPress dashboard.
For Plugins:
- Go to Dashboard > Plugins.
- In the Automatic Updates column next to each plugin, click Enable auto-updates for the plugins you wish to update automatically.
For Themes:
- Navigate to Appearance > Themes.
- Hover over the theme you want to update and click Theme Details.
- In the bottom right corner, select Enable auto-updates to turn on automatic updates for that theme.
Updated on: 15/04/2025
Thank you!