Safe, Managed, Bulk Updates: All the Pros; None of the Cons

Managing plugins and themes for multiple client websites can be challenging. You deal with the hassle of inconsistent updates, potential security risks, and handling different site configurations. We’re thrilled to introduce new updates to the WP Remote dashboard, designed to solve these issues.

Best available update method for each site

All your clients aren’t on the same site care plan, and therefore you have to distribute the time you spend on each site accordingly. WP Remote now takes care of that time allocation for you. 

When you are updating a plugin across multiple sites, the best available update method will automatically be applied. 

For example, your highest-tier client sites on the Pro or Max plans will get Sandbox Updates by default. Similarly, sites on mid-tier plans will have Safe Updates chosen by default. The rest will get Quick Updates. 

Updates on your terms

You can also switch between update methods, depending on your requirements. 

For example, for a smaller plugin update, Quick Update is sufficient, you can flip the switch across sites.

Perhaps you’ve already tested the plugin update thoroughly on staging, and are just replicating the steps for live sites. Sandbox Updates are overkill in that situation, so you can choose to have Safe Updates on all sites instead. 

Everything is displayed in one unified view, and you can perform the updates in a single go.

Quick primer on managed updates

Plugin and theme updates are the bane (and boon) of site maintenance, which is why we have introduced so many options to update sites safely. Just in case you need a primer for all the terms we’ve been throwing around above, here are the different ways you can update your client sites: 

• Quick Updates: Update the plugin or theme directly on the live site. Recommended for updates with very high UpdateLens scores only. 
• Safe Updates: Automatically backs up the site before applying the update directly on the live site. Once the update is done, we run a visual regression test to make sure the site is error-free. Recommended for most updates, even if you’ve tested them thoroughly on staging beforehand. 
• Sandbox Updates: Our ultimate pro tier for updates. We first run the update on a staging site. Then run a visual regression test to check for errors. Once the tests are done, you review the report and decide whether or not to proceed with the update on the live site. Recommended for updates that are uncertain, but you don’t have time to test them out on staging yourself.