WordPress maintenance

What maintenance involves

Updates

WordPress's documentation advises backing up before updating, so the site can be restored if something goes wrong. Minor and security releases can apply automatically on most sites; major releases, themes and plugins need applying, either automatically where enabled or by hand. Updating on a staging copy first, for important sites, catches conflicts before visitors see them.

Backups that can be restored

A backup should include the files and the database, be stored somewhere other than the site's own server, and be kept for long enough to recover from problems noticed late. A backup that has never been restored is an assumption, not a safety net: test a restore to a staging copy from time to time.

Plugin reviews

Updating plugins is not enough. Review them occasionally: is each still needed, still maintained by its author and compatible with current WordPress? Replace abandoned plugins and remove unused ones, since inactive code can still be a risk if left installed.

A maintenance routine

1. 01

   Back up

   Files and database, off-site.

   Output: Fresh backup

2. 02

   Update

   Core, theme, plugins.

   Output: Current software

3. 03

   Check

   Key pages, forms, logins.

   Output: Site working

4. 04

   Review

   Plugins, users, performance.

   Output: Changes noted

5. 05

   Report

   What was done and found.

   Output: Maintenance log

Example: a maintenance routine for a solicitor's site

Maintenance health check

Monitoring

Uptime monitoring alerts someone when the site stops responding. Watching for errors, broken forms and slow pages catches problems that do not take the whole site down. Decide who receives alerts and what they do next.

User accounts

Remove accounts for people who have left, give each person only the role they need and avoid shared logins. Strong, unique passwords and two-step sign-in, where available, reduce the risk of account takeover.

Who is responsible

Maintenance can be done in-house, by a freelancer, through a provider's care plan or partly by the host. What matters is that one named person or organisation is responsible, knows what to do and keeps a record. Unclear responsibility is how sites go unpatched.

Performance

Sites tend to slow down as images, plugins and content accumulate. Occasional checks of page speed, image sizes and plugin load keep the site responsive.

Hosting and server software

WordPress runs on server software such as PHP and a database, which also need keeping current. On shared or managed hosting, the host usually handles this; on a self-managed server, someone on your side must. Check which applies, and confirm the site works with the server versions in use before they change.

Keep a maintenance log

Record each update, backup test, plugin change and problem found, with the date. A log helps diagnose issues later, shows a new provider the site's history and makes it obvious when routine tasks have been missed.