SECTION 14: Maintain Your Church WordPress Website with Regular Updates
One step you can take on a regular basis to protect yourself from hackers is to keep your WordPress Install, Themes and Plugins updated.
When these are out of date hackers can exploit those weaknesses. This is why security updates are available on a regular basis – to clean up problems and stay one step ahead of the hackers.
But first, you will want to protect yourself from the updates themselves!
Sometimes these updates can cause problems with your site, and you will want a backup to be able to revert to if that happens.
1 – Backup your Website with your Website Hosting Dashboard
Thankfully, our Website Hosting Company has provided us with a way to create backups easily. If you did not use our recommended website hosting, you will need to contact your website host to see if there is an easy backup option.
To create a backup using Bluehost Website Hosting, login to your dashboard and go to the “Files” Section, then click on “Site Backup Pro”.
Click the free “Backup and Restore” option, then scroll down and click “Download” under the “Full Cpanel Backup”. Follow the instructions to complete your backup download.
If something were to happen to your website after completing the updates, at least you would have all of the files you need to fix it even if you do not know how to do it yourself.
2 – Run WordPress Updates
After you have completed the backup process, you are ready to run the updates.
Go to the “Dashboard” link in your WordPress Dashboard sidebar, then click “Updates”. If updates are available, run the updates. Not only will you see the Themes and Plugins that you installed, but also a few default Themes that came with the initial install. Keep these Themes updated too.
If you want to be extra safe, you can run each update one at a time and test your site to make sure everything is still working correctly. You can also check multiple updates at once to make the process go quicker.
Usually the update process only lasts a few seconds, but some site functionality may be suspended while updates are being run.
3 – Need help with Website Issues?
There may be a situation that you run into that is beyond your ability to handle, or a WordPress issue that you cannot fix.
There is a company that can handle these issues for you. Go to the link below and click “Sign up Today”. You will see options to get on a monthly plan or you can request a fix for a single issue. The monthly plans also include keeping your website, themes and plugins updated as well.
> WordPress Website Maintenance Help Link…
http://op139.infusionsoft.com/go/wpcurve/findingyourbusiness
