How to configure automatic updates in WordPress

Configuring automatic updates in WordPress is a crucial step to ensure your site stays secure and up to date with the latest features and improvements. Regular updates to WordPress core, themes, and plugins help protect your site from vulnerabilities, improve performance, and ensure compatibility with new web standards. Automatic updates can save time and reduce the risk of missing important updates, especially if you manage multiple WordPress sites.

WordPress allows you to configure automatic updates for different components, including core updates, themes, and plugins. By default, minor core updates are automatically applied, but you can also enable automatic updates for major releases, themes, and plugins if desired. This can be done by adding specific configuration codes to your WordPress setup or using plugins designed to manage updates.

This guide will walk you through the steps to configure automatic updates in WordPress. Following these steps will help you keep your site secure and running smoothly without the need for constant manual intervention.

1. Enable automatic updates for WordPress core.

   To automatically update all core versions, add the following code to your wp-config.php file.

   define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', true);

2. Enable automatic updates for themes.

   Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file to enable automatic updates for all themes installed on your WordPress site.

   add_filter( 'auto_update_theme', '__return_true' );

3. Enable automatic updates for plugins.

   Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file to enable automatic updates for all plugins installed on your WordPress site.

   add_filter( 'auto_update_plugin', '__return_true' );

4. Use a plugin to manage automatic updates.

   If you prefer not to edit code manually, you can use a plugin like Easy Updates Manager to manage and customize automatic updates for core, themes, and plugins from the WordPress dashboard.

5. Monitor your site after updates.

   After enabling automatic updates, regularly check your site to ensure that updates are applied correctly and that there are no compatibility issues.

6. Set up email notifications for updates.

   Add the following code to your functions.php file to receive email notifications whenever an automatic update occurs.

   add_filter( 'auto_core_update_send_email', 'send_update_email', 10, 4 );
       function send_update_email( $email, $type, $core_update, $result ) {
           return $email;
       }