In a previous article, we explain what plugins are and how you can use these to add new features or functionality to your web site without editing code.
To read the article, go here:
In this tutorial you will learn the importance of keeping your plugins up-to-date, how to automatically update and uninstall plugins, and some great tools to help you better manage your plugins if you manage multiple WordPress sites or blogs.
Why Many Of Your Plugins Need Regular Upgrading
New WordPress versions are constantly being released (about every 3-4 months) to fix bugs and address security issues and vulnerabilities found in earlier software releases, as well as to improve existing features or introduce new ones.
Depending on how many plugins you use on your site, you can expect to see at least some new updates for plugins whenever new versions of WordPress are released.
The reason for this, is because most plugins for WordPress are created by 3rd-party developers, so sometimes the code in the new WordPress version conflicts with plugins that were created and tested to work with a previous version. When this happens, there is a potential for issues to sometimes develop.
Fortunately, most WordPress plugin developers (and the WordPress developer community itself) are fairly proactive when it comes to ensuring that plugins get updated when a new version of WordPress is released (if updating is needed). All you need to do as a website owner, is keep your plugins up-to-date, which, as you will soon learn, is very easy and simple to do.
Keeping your WordPress plugins regularly updated and removing old plugins you no longer use is part of good WordPress site management and helps to avoid potential problems or errors.
The WordPress tutorial below explains how to automatically update and delete plugins in WordPress without editing web code.
Updating And Deleting Plugins – Step-By-Step Tutorial
WordPress provides a few methods to alert you when plugins need to be updated.
For example, you can immediately see how many plugins are out-of-date from your Admin area simply by looking at the “Plugins” menu.
In the screenshot below, nine plugins need updating …
You can also check how many plugins need updating from your WP Toolbar (the screenshot below shows that a number of plugins should be brought up to date) …
The Plugins page (Plugins > Installed Plugins) also tells you what plugins need updating …
As well as providing information about which plugins have available updates, the Plugins screen provides links to the plugin developer sites and gives you the option to update your plugins with one-click …
Let’s start by showing you how to upgrade one WP plugin at a time.
How To Upgrade WordPress Plugins Individually
Always make a complete backup of your data and files before making any upgrades to your blog or website.
From your WP admin menu, select Plugins > Installed Plugins …
You will be taken to the “Plugins” screen. The list of plugins can run down your screen for a while, depending on the number of plugins you have added to your site …
(WordPress Plugins Screen)
Useful Info:
If you have too many plugins installed and would like to make this section more manageable, then click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your Plugins screen and type in a smaller number of items per page (by default, all plugins display on the page), then click Apply …
Your Plugins page will now be reduced in size with a ’numbered pages’ feature added. You can find an installed plugin by scrolling through the pages or using the “Plugin Search” box …
WordPress displays plugin information in different color backgrounds depending on the status of the plugins (inactive vs. active and up-to-date vs. out-of-date) …
Plugins that need upgrading have a distinctive notification message: “There is a new version of [Plugin] available” …
Locate the plugin that needs to be updated and click on the update now link …
WordPress provides smooth & simple plugin updates, so that updating your plugins happens with just “one click” without leaving your Plugins area …
Repeat this process for all plugins on your site that need updating, or refer to the section below if you have many plugins that are out-of-date and would like to update them all in bulk.
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Now that you know how to upgrade individual plugins, it’s time to learn how to bulk-upgrade plugins.
Bulk-Upgrading Plugins
To upgrade multiple WordPress plugins simultaneously from your admin area, go to the “Plugins” page and click on the Update Available link on the menu at the top of the page …
Tick the checkbox next to the Plugin column header to select all plugins at once, or select each plugin you want to update by checking its box …
In the Bulk Actions drop down menu above the plugin list, select Update …
Click Apply …
Your selected plugins will begin updating …
After all plugin upgrades are done, you can click on the Return to Plugins page link to return to your Plugins area, or select another option from the WP dashboard menu …
Once your plugins are all up-to-date, the plugin notifications disappear (i.e. the “at-a-glance” indicators and “There is a new version of XYZ plugin available” notices no longer display on your screen, toolbar and menus) …
You have updated all plugins on your site to their latest version!
(When your plugins are up-to-date, notification icons no longer display)
Now that you know how to automatically upgrade inside the dashboard, it’s time to learn how to safely delete plugins safely from your WordPress site.
Deleting WP Plugins
At times, you may decide to remove WP plugins that are no longer needed or being used on your site. This can help to conserve server resources and also help to minimize potential problems.
In this section, we show you how to safely remove unused plugins from your WordPress site.
Always create a full back up of your site before installing, upgrading or deleting plugins, in case something goes wrong and you need to recover data or reinstall your site.
To remove a plugin, go to your admin menu and select Plugins > Installed Plugins …
In the Plugins area, find the plugin you want to remove and make sure it is deactivated.
Hint: Inactive plugins use a different colored background than active plugins and display an “Activate” link below the plugin name …
If the plugin is active, then click on Deactivate before continuing with your plugin deletion …
Click on Delete …
If you want to have a look at all the files that will be deleted before proceeding, then click on the “Click to view entire list of files which will be deleted” link in the “Delete Plugin” section …
The entire list of files associated with the plugin that you are about to remove will be listed on your screen …
If you are absolutely certain that you want to go ahead and delete the plugin, then click on the Yes, Delete these files button …
Your plugins and related files will be deleted …
How To Delete Multiple WP Plugins At Once
You can bulk-delete all inactive plugins on your site, or select a combination of active and inactive plugins to be cleared.
Note: To delete any plugins that are currently active, you first need to deactivate them.
Go to the “Plugins” section and select all of the active plugins that you want to delete by either placing a tick next to their check box, or selecting the check box next to the Plugin column header to select all plugins (warning: this will deactivate all plugins) …
Once you have done this, choose Deactivate from the Bulk Actions pull-down menu …
Click the Apply button …
All selected plugins will be deactivated …
Once you have deactivated your plugins, click on the Inactive link on the menu at the top of the page …
Select all of the plugins you want to delete by either placing a tick next to their check box, or click on the check box next to the Plugin column header to select and delete all inactive plugins …
Once you have ticked all the checkboxes next to the plugins that you want to delete, choose Delete from the Bulk Actions pull-down menu …
Click the Apply button …
A list of all selected plugins will display in the Delete Plugins area. Click on “click to view entire list of files which will be deleted” to review all the plugin files that you are about to delete, or click on the Yes, Delete these files button if you are absolutely sure that you would like to go ahead and remove all of the selected plugins …
All plugins will be deleted and their associated files will be removed from your server …
Plugin Management – Useful Tools
As well as the methods shown above, you can use Free and Premium WordPress plugins that help you manage your WordPress plugins.
Health Check & troubleshooting
This plugin provides comprehensive checks for your WordPress installation to detect common configuration errors and known issues. It also enables plugins and themes to add their own custom checks.
The debug section allows you to easily gather information about your WordPress and server configuration, which can be shared with support representatives for themes, plugins, or on the official WordPress.org support forums.
The troubleshooting feature allows you to initiate a clean WordPress session, where all plugins are disabled and a default theme is used, but only for your user account until you choose to disable it or log out.
The Tools section offers the ability to check for file tampering in WordPress, test email-sending functionality, and verify plugin compatibility with future PHP version updates.
For more details, go here: Health Check And Troubleshooting
Managing WordPress Plugins On Multiple Sites
As discussed earlier, when plugin updates are released, the best practice is to update the plugin as soon as possible to its latest version.
What if you run multiple WordPress sites using the same plugin?
Typically, you would need to log in to every site individually and update the plugin manually from the site’s admin dashboard.
If you manage or plan to manage multiple sites, this process can become very time-consuming, especially as plugins get updated quite often.
If you manage multiple WordPress sites, you can install, update, and delete multiple plugins on all your sites automatically and simultaneously using WordPress site management tools, like the one below:
WPMU DEV’s The Hub
The Hub lets you manage unlimited WordPress sites easily and effectively from one central command center.
The Updates section of The Hub shows you exactly what needs updating on each of your managed site(s), including plugins, themes, and core software updates.
The Hub’s Updates features display how many outdated components need updating on your site(s).
You can choose to either update all your plugins at once or update them individually with just a few clicks. Best of all, you don’t need to log into every site separately to perform your plugin updates.
Update everything at once or perform individual updates directly in The Hub with a few clicks.
This can be a real time-saver when managing multiple WordPress sites, especially when WordPress releases a new version and you have to update many plugins and themes to prevent potential issues from happening.
You can read our comprehensive article on managing multiple sites effectively using the Hub or visit WPMU DEV to learn more and try The Hub for free.
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