Hello everyone! There's no tutorial today, but mostly answers to the questions readers have asked in theMessage from our communityOne of the most asked questions. Is."Why we always use the latest version of WordPress for our WordPress websites"?

Why You Should Update WordPress

WordPress It's free, and developers around the world are promoting its development in the community.

With each new release, they fix bugs, add new features, improve performance and enhance existing features to keep up with the latest industry standards.

In other words, if you don't update WordPress, your website security will be at risk and you will miss out on new features/improvements. To keep up with the latest WordPress developments, keep an eye on our "WordPress Information"Topics.

Below, we'll take a look at the pros and cons of updating WordPress to help you make your choice.

1. Security

Security is the most important reason for a WordPress website to be updated.

More than 43% websites worldwide are built using WordPress. Due to its popularity, WordPress has also become a target for hackers, malicious code distribution, data thieves and hackers.

Since WordPress is open source, anyone can study the source code to learn and improve it. However, this also means that hackers can study it and find ways to break into the site. The good news is that security experts around the world can study the code and properly report security bugs/fixes.

Whenever a security vulnerability is reported, the WordPress core team works to release an update to fix the issue.

This means that if the latest version of WordPress is not being used, there is a known security vulnerability in the software being used. Hackers can search for sites running older versions and your site could be targeted.

Hackers can also use plugin attacks. Therefore, it is also important to make sure that all WordPress plugins, themes and the core itself are always up-to-date.

2. New and better features

Every major WordPress release comes with new features and software changes.

For example, WordPress 5.0 introduced a block editor, WordPress 5.3 included accessibility and UI improvements, and WordPress 5.4 came with new blocks and improvements to the block editor, among others.

If you are using an older version of WordPress, the WordPress experience will not be the same as if you were using the latest version.

With older versions, it can be difficult to find WordPress help online.

3. Speed

WordPress development has always been about speed. Each new version includes several performance improvements to make WordPress run faster and more efficiently.

For example, WordPress 4.2 improves JS performance for navigation menus, and WordPress 4.1 improves complex queries to help get better performance for sites that use them.

Since the velocity is SEO It's an important factor in your performance, so you should keep WordPress up to date to ensure you get the most out of your performance experience.

4. Bug fixes

Major releases are rigorously tested before release, but sometimesWordPress Errorsmay still be ignored.

That's why minor WordPress releases (versions with XXX) are released in time to address this issue. For example.WordPress 6.6.1Maintenance version, but then updated to fix Version 6.6The error in the

Now, if one goes to the WordPress support forums for help, the first suggestion is basically to update WordPress as this may solve the problem. If one insists on not updating WordPress, then it is very difficult to get help.

5. Compatibility (or incompatibility)

Typically, plugin and theme developers coordinate their updates with major WordPress releases to ensure that they can take advantage of newly introduced features and enhancements.

However, in some cases, if the update does not follow thecoding standardThis may break existing WordPress plugins.

That's why the siteRegular backups WordPress is important.

The only downside is that the site can crash in some rare cases. However, the upside is that it can:

• Improving WordPress Security
• New WordPress Features That Work Better
• Faster WordPress Experience
• A WordPress website with no security holes
• Better compatibility

Now do you know why it is important to keep your WordPress website updated? Let's take a look at how to update WordPress.

How to Keep Your WordPress Website Updated

Updating the WordPress core, plugins, and themes whenever there is a new update is relatively simple.

WordPress has a built-in update notification system. When logged into the WordPress dashboard, it highlights the number of updates that are available.

interviewsDashboard " Updatespage and just click on those updates. This is a one-click process.

However, since many sites don't log into the WordPress dashboard every day, they may not even know when an update is coming. The good news is that there is an option to have automatic updates enabled. Automatic updates can be enabled for major releases, plugins, and themes.

Get email notifications of WordPress updates

When busy with other business, there is no time to log in to the website to check for updates. It would be time-saving to be notified by email when there is an update to your WordPress site.

The steps here aren't too difficult, so I'll show you how to do it below.

The first thing to do is to install and activateCompanion Auto UpdatePlugin. Once activated, visit the"Tools" "Automatic update program"to configure the plug-in settings.

Scroll down to the Email Notifications section and check "Email me when there are updates"OptionsThe checkbox next to theThe

Optionally, you can provide an alternate email address to receive notifications, show update times, or display a link to your WordPress.org page.

By default, it checks for WordPress core updates, plugin updates and theme updates.

Automatically install WordPress updates

This process can be further automated.WordPress can enable automatic updates for major releases, plugins and themes.

If a hosted WordPress server is not used, then this option is risky. Hosted WordPress server companies automatically update websites to major WordPress versions.

If you turn on auto-update, the site may go down and there is also no immediate fix available online. To enable automatic updates, there are two ways to do it (plugin and code: we recommend using a plugin to be a bit more newbie friendly).

Let's take a look at the plugin method.

First, install and activateEasy Updates ManagerPlugin. Once activated, visit theDashboard " Update Optionspage to configure the plugin.

Scroll down to the Automatic Updates section where you can enable automatic updates for core, plugins, themes and translation files. When you're done, simply save the settings.

Enabling Automatic Updates for Specific WordPress Plugins

WordPress can also turn on automatic updates for plugins. Simply go to the plugin page and click "Enable Automatic Updates"The link will do.

It's very convenient if you want to turn on automatic updates for key plugins.

Enable automatic updates with the wp-config file

Add this line to the wp-config.php file to enable automatic WordPress core updates.

Backup first.Website datato prevent accidents.

	define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true);