Dropping the WP core updater in favour of our own

If you’ve noticed the recent updates on your managed WordPress accounts with us, you might’ve also noticed we’ve sidelined the built-in core updater in favour of our own tool. The main reason for this is that the WordPress updater is offered as an opt-in system, whereas ours is opt-out. We think the latter is crucial.

Keeping your installation of WordPress up to date is critical in keeping your website secure. It’s the number one task you can undertake to ensure your site is safe and sound – and it’s free. As standard, all our WordPress hosting plans are created with auto-updates enabled, to keep your site on the most recent stable version at all times.

For those who need a last-minute pause – to check compatibility of a theme or plugin – the tool offers an update deferral option for either 24 hours or one week. If you need longer than that, we need to move your site to a non managed platform. This is something we strongly advise against: an outdated installation is the number one cause of exploited sites.