WordPress Event Ticketing

You see a shiny new version of your favorite plugin or theme, read through the changelog with anticipation at all these shiny new features you'll get to play with, and you see those words "One Click Update." You click the update thinking in less than 60 seconds you'll have the new version with all the new toys to play with. Then... Boom! Your site has crashed, you've got fatal errors, warnings, notices and messages that look like gibberish. Maybe you do or don't have a backup, but hey it's still ruined your day right?

You should Always! update with care. While the one click updates are in theory simple to perform. I mean it's only a button, right? True. But it's a dangerous button, that button in less than 60 seconds can crash your website. Cause you to lose thousands of dollars in business. Luckily there are steps you can take to avoid such calamitous issues happening with your site.

Backups... Backups... Backups!

Backups are an important part of any upgrade plan. Before you click that update button for your theme or plugin, make sure you have a backup of your site in the exact state it's currently in. Have automatic backups run? That's great! But still before clicking that update button, take a backup of your site at that exact moment. Then before proceeding with the update go and check if the backup works. After all, there's no point in taking a backup to use in an emergency if it's corrupted or missing important information.

Not sure which backup plugin or service is the right solution for your WordPress powered website? Check out the ultimate guide to backup plugins for WordPress here.

Staging

Let's get one thing clear; You should never, ever, ever(!) update your plugins or theme without first testing the update on a staging site. Changelogs can be very non-specific. You might see an entry like "Fixed Some Bugs." What bugs? Were new bugs introduced when the other bugs were patched? There is no such thing as bug-free software. Bugs are just a fact of life if you run a website or build software for a living. It's how you deal with them that really makes a difference.

But What Is a Staging Site?

A staging site is simply a replica of your website on any other domain that can be used for testing purposes and it doesn't matter if it breaks or not. A staging site is typically best to be on the same host as your main website to ensure you have the same server environment and variables. For example, if you were using a plugin that after an update introduced a compatibility issue with PHP 7 and your staging site was running PHP 5 so it worked fine. But your main site is running PHP 7, and it breaks. That means it's a fail with your testing strategy.

Building a Staging Site

Building a staging site is simple! All you need to do is create a subdomain (not a subdirectory) on your existing domain. i.e, staging.example.com. Install WordPress. Make the site private and prevent it from being indexed in search engines. Import a backup of your main site (not forgetting to run a find and replace in the database to switch the domain), and you're done! It may not sound over simple. It is, though, and you'll be up and running in no time at all.

Don't have the time to build your staging site? Not a problem! There are many hosting companies that offer built-in staging functionality.

Some of the hosts that offer this include WPEngine, Kinsta and Page. They allow you to one click copy from staging to live and back which comes quite convenient in this case. Once you have your staging site all setup. You can then test updates on your staging site without the risk of breaking your main website. Make sure to check all pages, front-end functionality, and admin side functionality. Everything works? Perfect! Update your live site, and everything should be running smoothly.

Remember though it's extremely important your staging site is a replica, down to settings. Activated plugins and themes, server environment, etc.

Found a Bug?

You've updated and found a bug. If you believe you've found a genuine bug, it's best to get it reported right away to the plugin or theme developer. How quick you get an answer depends on many factors. To help out the developers as much as possible include important information. Including but not limited to:

• WordPress Version
• Plugin/Theme Version
• Confirmation you've already tested for a plugin conflict
• The exact issue you are seeing with screenshots or in some instances a screencast.

Doing this will allow the developers and their support team to understand the issue quicker and easier without needing to get into a back and forth with you. Making the bug easier to deal with for both parties.

Don't Put Off Updates

You shouldn't put off updates just because you need to test. Test on staging and then update live as soon as it's safe to do so. Leaving an older version of a plugin on your site could open up vulnerabilities on your site and open you up to hackers and countless compatibility issues on your site.

Conclusion

Updating is an important part of any website and managing a website. However always make sure you have a game plan in place and execute it perfectly. One slip-up could cost you time, money and leads. Have you ever crashed your website with an update? Perhaps you've come across an issue that a developer just never fixed which meant you couldn't update? Let us know in the comments below.