Website software behind on updates
Your website software is well behind on security updates.
How to see it yourself, in a minute
- View the page source and search for “generator”.
- A version a few releases behind the current one is this fault.
- In the dashboard, the Updates page will show a number in a red circle.
Or paste your address into the free audit, which checks this and seventeen other faults in ten seconds.
Why it matters
Each missed update is a published list of holes an attacker can read. Sites that fall a year behind rarely catch up on their own, because each jump gets riskier.
Each missed release is a published list of security holes. A site a year behind rarely catches up on its own because every jump gets riskier, and it ends up as the fault above. The direct cost today is small; the cost of waiting is the whole site.
How we fix it
We update everything on a staging copy, check the site still works, switch over, and put it on a care plan so it never falls behind again.
- Backup, update on a staging copy, test, switch over.
- Remove unused plugins and themes, which are the usual way in.
- Enable automatic minor updates and put the major ones on a monthly schedule under a care plan.
How long: A half day.
Questions people ask about this
- How often should it be updated?
- Security releases within a week; everything else monthly. That is what the care plans do.
- Can we do it ourselves?
- Yes, if someone takes a backup first and knows how to restore it. Most of the sites we see with this fault had someone who meant to.
People usually find this page by searching
- “how often update wordpress”
- “website maintenance plan”
- “keep website software updated”
Has your site got it?
Paste your address. This and seventeen other faults, checked in seconds.
Free, on screen in about ten seconds, no call. We fetch your homepage once, the way a visitor's browser does, and nothing else.
Or fix the lot at once
If the audit finds five or more, a rebuild is usually cheaper than five fixes. Prices are on the page.