How to manage WordPress product updates

Open Dashboard → Updates. WordPress lists available core, plugin and theme updates there, including inactive plugins and themes. You can also review individual updates from Plugins and Appearance → Themes. Read the changelog for major updates before applying them.

Do not confuse this with WooCommerce catalogue products. In this guide, a product means WordPress software such as a plugin, theme or vendor package.

Back up both the database and the WordPress files before updating. A backup is useful only if you can restore it, so check where the restore control is and whether the backup completed successfully. WordPress documentation specifically recommends a current backup before plugin, theme or core updates.

For a busy shop, membership site or custom build, update a staging copy first. Check the homepage, forms, checkout, login and any important integrations before repeating the update on production.

On Dashboard → Updates, update WordPress core first when it is offered, then review the plugin and theme lists. Select only the items you have checked and click the relevant update button. You can also update one plugin at a time from Plugins → Installed Plugins. WordPress puts the site into maintenance mode during parts of the update process, so do not close the browser or start another update while it is working.

Keep custom code out of a parent theme. Theme updates can overwrite edits made directly to theme files; use a child theme or a properly maintained code plugin for customisations.

WordPress lets you enable automatic updates per plugin from Plugins → Installed Plugins and per theme from the theme details screen. You can bulk-enable or disable plugin auto-updates. This feature was introduced in WordPress 5.5 and normally runs twice per day through scheduled WordPress tasks.

Use automatic updates for well-maintained, low-risk extensions when you have reliable backups. Leave high-impact builders, membership systems, payment integrations and heavily customised themes on manual updates until you have checked compatibility. Make sure update emails reach someone who will act on a failure.

If updates do not appear, check Tools → Site Health for errors involving WordPress Cron, outgoing connections, DNS or cURL. Hosting restrictions, security plugins and settings that disable file modifications can prevent update checks or downloads. Premium plugins installed from outside the WordPress Plugin Directory may also need their vendor updater before an update notice appears.

The Friday-afternoon failure to watch for is a site stuck on “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance”. If a failed core update leaves the site there, use hosting file access or FTP to remove the .maintenance file from the WordPress root, then inspect the update error and restore the backup if necessary. Do not delete random WordPress files while the cause is unknown.

For a group of products from one vendor, use that vendor's official updater rather than downloading separate ZIP files repeatedly. For Thrive products, install or update Thrive Product Manager from the WordPress admin, connect the Thrive account or licence, refresh the product list and select the products to install or update. Thrive states that licence or account problems can hide the normal update action, while firewall or security rules can block its update requests.

Thrive Product Manager is the recommended fast route when you manage several Thrive products and want one official place for installation, activation, licensing and updates. It is not required for ordinary WordPress plugins and themes, where the built-in Updates screen is usually enough.