Seeing that red dot with a number in the WordPress dashboard often triggers two reactions: the anxiety to update immediately or the recklessness of ignoring it. Both can be fatal for a business.
Updating plugins is the cornerstone of WordPress security. However, for an agency managing dozens or hundreds of sites, updating cannot be an impulsive act. It is a technical process that requires an understanding of what happens "under the hood."
What Happens Technically During an Update?
When you click "Update," WordPress performs a series of critical actions:
- Download and Verify: It downloads the .zip package from WordPress.org or the provider's servers.
- Maintenance Mode: It creates a temporary
.maintenancefile in the site's root. This shows users the message "Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute." - File Replacement: It deletes the old plugin folder in
wp-content/plugins/and replaces it with the new one. - Database Migrations: Many plugins load new tables or modify existing data upon the first run after the update. This is when "breaking changes" often occur.
Why You Shouldn't Just Update Everything Randomly
The primary risk is conflict. A WooCommerce update might not be compatible with your theme or with a shipping plugin that hasn't been updated yet.
- Visual Regressions: CSS changes can break layouts.
- PHP Conflicts: Fatal errors leading to the infamous "White Screen of Death."
- Caching Issues: Mismatched JavaScript versions causing malfunctions in checkout or forms.
Classification of Updates
A professional workflow divides updates into two categories:
1. Critical Updates (High Priority)
These are related to Security. If a plugin like Wordfence or a core component reports a zero-day vulnerability, the update must be immediate, but always preceded by a quick backup.
2. Functional Updates (Medium/Low Priority)
New features, UI improvements, or minor bug fixes. These can and should be postponed for a few days (or weeks) to wait for the community to test the stability of the new version (the "never version X.0 in production" rule).
The Agency Workflow
To avoid disasters, here is the method I apply in my white-label maintenance services:
- Changelog Check: Always read what has changed, especially for warnings about "deprecated functions."
- Staging Environment: Test updates for complex plugins (WooCommerce, ACF, WPML) on a site copy first.
- Post-Update Monitoring: Check error logs (debug.log) and Core Web Vitals after the operation.
- Remote Backups: Always have a restore point external to the site's server.
Conclusion
Proactive maintenance differentiates a low-level provider from a reliable technical partner. Updating with criteria means ensuring business continuity for your clients and saving hours of emergency bug fixing.