WordPress 3.7 introduced the ability to automatically update sites in the background, but today’s latest update to ManageWP lets you takes this automation even further and allows you to take advantage control how is it applied to each individual theme and plugin maintained within your ManageWP dashboard. It’s pretty awesome!

WordPress 3.7 & Automatic Background Updates

Automatic Background Updates, the intriguingly optimistic feature introduced in WordPress 3.7, turned some heads when it launched in October. It enables WordPress to receive minor enhancements and security patches without human intervention.

This is perfectly fine if you’re just managing one or two sites on the side as a hobby — and it definitely helps a bit if you or someone you know likes to setup WordPress sites and never touch them again.

But if you’re maintaining a serious, money-making business — perhaps where an automatic upgrade breaks a plugin and takes your site down with it, all without your knowledge — then things are not as clear cut. The very same security measures designed to protect you and your sites are also capable of causing you massive headaches. However — as Andrew Nacin points out — in more than 110,000 automatic updates performed there wasn’t a single critical incident. ManageWP backup feature is there to protect you in any case.

Today we are enabling you to use this new WordPress technology for automatic background updates of Plugins and Themes through ManageWP.

What’s New

ManageWP introduces the ability to use the same Automatic Background Updates mechanism built into the WordPress core and apply it to plugins and themes on a per-site (or all sites at once through our powerful Manage Plugins & Themes interface) basis. We have built this integration to compliment and further extend the WordPress Automatic Background Updates feature.

To manage Automatic Background Updates for your plugins and themes: in your ManageWP dashboard go to Manage -> Plugins & Themes. You’ll see a new tab there called Auto Updates. It works in a similar way as previous plugin & theme management, and you you’ll have the ability to set the automatic updates for well-built plugins that you trust.

As always, we insist that you take your WordPress site, theme, and plugin updates seriously, as these updates and security patches can and will affect the functionality and security of your WordPress sites, and potentially your business. Be vigilant, and stay informed.

For even more in-depth information, take a stroll on over to Managing Automatic Background Updates in the ManageWP User Guide.

It’s worth noting that this update also brings back full support for SFTP, whether it be for backup or clone. I hope you enjoy that feature as well!

Let us know what you think, and tell us what else you’d like to see from ManageWP in the future!