Many WordPress users will have used automatic updates to keep the WordPress core up to date. Unfortunately, an update that was released on Monday 5th February broke this feature. a maintenance released the following day to fix the issue but there is a problem – unless you know how to update the core and you rely solely on the automatic update your WordPress site will be stuck on 4.9.3 until you manually upgrade the core.
Luckily enough updating WordPress is easy – it only takes a few mouse clicks. Before continuing we must stress the need to take a backup – we have installed WordPress 4.9.4 on several hundred websites without issues but there are no guarantees that it will work with your combination of themes and plugins – always take a backup before running any updates.
Once you have your backup login to the backend of your WordPress site, at the top of the screen you should see the update message similar to that shown below (note the backup message):
Click the Update Now button – this will download the update and apply it your site. While the update takes place, it should take less than a minute your site will display a maintenance page.
Once the update is completed following screen will be shown:
Now before jumping for joy check your website – if you are using a caching plugin make sure you flush/purge the cache and then if possible preload the cache.
That’s it your site is now updated and will continue to receive automatic updates if you have set this on your site.
