Not doing this?

You’re not alone.

If you are operating a blog then there are updates that need to be performed. WordPress can be set up to do automatic updates but many people like me prefer doing the updates manually. I like to know what I am updating beforehand in case there could be a glitch with other components on my sites.

In most cases, the updates do not take but a few minutes of your time, but do them. It is essential to the health of your site. Many of these updates are done to protect the security of your blog and to possibly prevent any attacks or threats, saving you a world of problems for the future.

These tips are primarily referring to those that use WordPress, that is what most of the content is centered around on this blog.

Here is a list of a few things to check for updates besides WordPress itself.

• Old Themes – there may be a few themes sitting in your archives that are not being used. I get it. Sometimes we install them to test them for the right fit. But it is highly recommended to delete the ones you will never use. If you decide to keep them, at least keep them updated. Usually, there will be a reminder next to the thumbnail for you to do so.
• The Images – you may have heard that updating old content is a good idea but so is updating images. Maybe you have changed themes from when you first began blogging and now the images do not fit. Updating images can give new life to old posts and again, can be an important move for security. Update the look!
• Plugins – very important update. Do you have plugins in your dashboard that are not being used? Then delete them. Check and make sure the plugins you are using are updated.

Make it a habit to check through your site occasionally and look for problem areas that are easy to fix. It will save issues that might occur later.

There are three particular steps in the following order I have found over the years using WordPress that has saved me a ton of problems. I know this because once the conflict happens it is a nightmare to fix.

• Update the plugins first.
• Update the theme second
• Update WordPress

Even if one of these does not have an update at the time I still use this order. It just makes life more simple.