If you have a WordPress website or blog, it is important to keep up with the updates. We know it can be annoying especially since they seem to come more frequently than ever before.

First – The facts

You do not have to update. There is no Internet police that will check if you updated or not. You may choose to stay with an older version for as long as you own the website. It is your choice. Saying this, it is HIGHLY recommended that you do as soon as you are notified that a newer version is available. Most of the updates have to do with increased security measures, meaning it will make it harder for hackers and their malicious scripts to infect your website. WordPress, by its nature, is a playing ground for hackers. They love to try to find new ways in and they do.  When a major breach is noted, then WordPress releases an updated version to counteract it.

Second – Why you should update

Again (and yes, we will be repeating ourselves) you should update. It is free and fairly easy to do … click the word UPDATE after logging into your WordPress dashboard. Even if your website is working well and you have no complaints, you should update. If you do not, you are making your site  more vulnerable to malicious scripts that crawl the web 24/7/365 looking to penetrate websites just like yours and do damage. If you follow our blog, you have learned that infected websites have reached an all time-high this year. Industry experts estimate 50,000 to 60,000 sites are infected every 24 hours. It is more about when your site will be hacked, not if. So make sure you have backups!

Third – Some words of caution

WordPress recommends you make a full backup of your website and its database before you update. We agree and understand this might be difficult if  you do not known how to; so check with your website designer for WordPress backup options.

That is especially true if you skipped previous upgrades. In such case, making a backpack is a must. Should there be any issue after the update, you would be to restore the site and database. Then you can discuss a game plan with your web team.

Some programmers recommend you wait a few days before upgrading to a brand WordPress version. In the past, some upgrades have created so many problems and patches via another new update had to be released within days.

So again, yes, you should update to the most up-to-date version for your WordPress website or blog. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@santarosawebsite.com. We are always happy to help.