Web Development
How do I update a WordPress Plugin?
WordPress plugins are mechanisms which which a site administrator can make a WordPress site more functional. These mechanisms, like WordPress core itself, are constantly developing, something that comes with frequent updates.
If the updates are related to security vulnerabilities of the plugin, then it is important to install it as soon as possible, unlike the update with new features and improvements that can be installed later. We generally recommend in both cases to download all the updates for the smoother operation of the website.
In the following article you can find 2 ways to update the plugins of your WordPress site. In the first one, the automatic installation mechanism (Installatron) is used and in the second, the updates are installed through the WordPress admin panel.
Before upgrading your WordPress plugins do not forget to get a security backup. If you follow the method through Installatron, then both the backup and the update are being operated in one step, but if you upgrade through the WordPress admin panel, you should generate a backup manually.
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#1: Update plugins through Installatron
In order to be able to update your WordPress plugins through Installatron, you first need to have synchronised you WordPress site with Instrallatron. If your haven't down that already, you can log into your cPanel account and under Web Applications section, click View More and select WordPress. Then click on "Import Existing Install" that can be found in the same menu with "install this application".
Given that you have synchronised you WordPress site with Instrallatron
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Click on Update:
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Choose from the list the plugins that you want to update:
Make sure that the button "Yes, create a backup before performing the update" is selected.
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Click on Update:
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#2: Update plugins through WordPress admin panel
First of all, you need to sign in to the WordPress Dashboard of your site.
If any of your Plugins needs upgrading, next to the Plugins option in the WordPress Dashboard menu, you will see a number, as shown in the following figure:
How I update my Plugins??
Go now on Plugins page. As you can see, next to the section Update Available, there is the number 1. This means that there is an update available for one of your Plugins.
As we can see in our example, there is an update available for the Akismet Plugin.
If you want to update this Plugin to the latest version, click link update now. The WordPress will download automatically the information, then will install the plugin and will remove any junk files from the previous installation.
After pressing the update now and update is completed, you should now see this image: