Since the switch to Site Tools, the great tool developed by SiteGround to keep WordPress sites always safe and up-to-date, namely AutoUpdate, is not working anymore. I first thought this was just an issue with the migration messing up my settings (see SiteGround New Client Area and Site Tools – part 10). However, resetting them was to no avail and I had to update my installation manually. When the tool failed to take care of the following update (see part 12), I questioned its capability to handle – or even recognize – point releases (i.e. minor updates). With the release of WordPress 5.7 being scheduled few days later, I didn’t have long to wait to test my hypothesis. Verdict: RIP AutoUpdate!
If you detect any issue, please check the list of recommended fixes you may apply in the Post Migration category of our Knowledge Base.The SiteGround Team
What a shame! This was such a good tool (see Updates & Upgrade Network). I don’t even understand how they could mess it up; they have developed it for God’s sake! Anyway, here is what the tool (Site Tools > WordPress > Autoupdate) displayed three days after the release of WordPress 5.7:
Status: UP TO DATE
Current version: WordPress 5.6.2
I was willing to give it another chance – by clicking on the UPDATE NOW button – but as it is not even detecting that there is a new version of WordPress, the button is not there!
To perform an upgrade of your WordPress application, go to your Site Tools > WordPress > Autoupdate. If the application is up to date an upgrade option will not be available.
Instead, I went to my wp-config.php file and commented out1 the only thing I didn’t like about this tool – when it was working just great (i.e. before the migration):
/**
* # Disables all core updates. Added by SiteGround Autoupdate:
* define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false );
*/There was something else – added by SiteGround – that was not welcome in my wp-config.php file (see part 11). I decided to remove it2 as well:
@include_once('/var/lib/sec/wp-settings.php'); // Added by SiteGround WordPress management system
Last, but not least, I wanted to opt-out from the tool (even though I would miss its built-in backup functionality), however, I could not:
WordPress autoupdates cannot be disabled completely. A certain update can be postponed or skipped. To do that go to Site Tools > WordPress > Autoupdate > Autoupdate Status > Skip Current Update.
1 There are few ways to comment out some code in PHP. For single line, you can use either // or # at the beginning of the line of code. However, for multiple lines, you should place /* before and */ at the end of your comment. Importantly, a comment is not executed as part of the program. While, its typical purpose is to label neatly what the following line of code is doing, you can also use this approach to “inactivate” – at least temporarily (just in case you change your mind later on) – a part of the code you don’t want to execute anymore. ^
2 Or more precisely, to comment it out for now. ^