Managed Plugin Updates
Shorten your to-do list while keeping your sites up to date (and extra safe)!
Automate WordPress plugin updates without the risk
Our Managed Plugin Updates Add-on takes the best of AI technology and adds a layer of real WordPress experts. It’ll detect even the slightest difference to your site that the human eye might’ve missed, and then will roll back the update and create a ticket for our team of experts to troubleshoot. You can get back to more important work, and relax knowing that your sites are safe and up to date!
Total control over automatic updates
Manage when, how often, and who receives notifications about plugin updates, so your site visitor’s experience is never interrupted.
Choose your update frequency
See the status of updates
Select "non-spike" hours for updates
Put your site into maintenance mode
Decide who gets notifications
Advanced AI technology & visual regression testing
Once we update your plugins (according to your frequency and schedule), our AI technology scans your site to identify any differences. Thanks to this visual regression testing, we can quickly identify any hiccups, roll back the update, and tag in our team of Technical Account Specialists to start troubleshooting.
Automatic backups before updates begin
We'll keep your site secure during every stage of the update process. Before we begin, we'll run a backup of your site so we can roll back if something breaks. If everything goes according to plan, you can rest easy knowing your site is running the latest versions of your plugins, stopping common security threats in their tracks!
Technical WordPress experts you can trust
While other plugin services keep your sites updated, when something goes wrong, you’re stuck troubleshooting all on your own while your site is left in a broken state. With Managed Plugin Updates, if there are any issues or errors, we automatically tag in our Technical Account Specialists to start troubleshooting! They’re masters in all things WordPress and plugin conflicts, and have helped update 1 million sites.
Email summaries to pass on to stakeholders or clients
After we update your plugins, we’ll send a summary of the updates that were made or anything that needs further troubleshooting. This is great for keeping stakeholders informed on the status of your site, or for passing on to your clients to demonstrate the value you’re providing them!
Managed Plugin Updates
Have peace of mind and check one more thing off your to do list
Each site
$8/mo
The sites that I manage that have the MPU Add-on, I think about ZERO throughout the month unless the client reaches out about something. There are sites that I haven’t logged into for 3-4 months and that is awesome.
Bryan Pappalardo
Pappalardo Digital
New to Flywheel and want to learn more about Managed Plugin Updates?
Chat with an expertFAQ
As many of the answers as we could compile!
- Why should I use Flywheel’s Managed Plugin Updates vs. something else?
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Other tools require manual intervention and management by you. You have to monitor the updates, ensure your sites do not break in the process and roll back as needed. With our Managed Plugin Updates Add-on, we handle all of the management at a price that beats you managing it yourself.
By combining the best of our AI technology with an added layer of real WordPress experts, we’re able to catch even the slightest changes to your site that the human eye might have missed while also providing creative problem solving and troubleshooting from our Technical Account Specialists. This means no more sites left in broken states and relying on yourself or a developer to fix your site!
- What is visual regression technology?
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The software we use for visual regression testing uses a sophisticated model that has been run millions of times on sites to be trained to detect even the smallest changes before and after updates. First, we check for any critical errors, if there is a critical error we rollback the changes. Next, we take screenshots of 10 to 20 pages of your site and do an image comparison to look for changed pixels. If there are changed pixels, we run the data through our machine learning model to see if the pixel changes are substantial enough to roll back the site. If any of these scenarios occurred that resulted in a rollback, our Technical Account Specialists step in. They will check the site, troubleshoot, and send you a summary of where there is an issue.
- How do I enable Managed Plugin Updates?
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1. Log in to the Flywheel app (or create an account!)
2. Head to the Add-Ons tab on the top navigation and select “Add-ons”
3. Select the sites or subscriptions you would like to enable the Add-on for
4. Select “Add sites”
5. Preview your billing summary and once you’re ready to go, click “Make Payment” - How do Managed Plugin Updates work?
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Once you’ve enabled Managed Plugin Updates, select which plugins you want to be updated and then you’re ready to go! Your plugins will start updating within that first week you sign up.
We’ll update all of the public WordPress repository plugins that have updates available and premium plugins that have their license keys available in WordPress. Before the update process begins, we take a backup of your site and plugin files. Only then are the updates completed. If any issues are found during the live site update process, we’ll revert the suspect plugin or restore back all changes. The site will never be left down or broken!
If there are any errors or issues, you’ll see a ticket generated and our Technical Account Specialists start investigating to help you troubleshoot.
- How often do you perform the plugin updates?
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By default, your plugins will get updated weekly. If you’d like daily updates, you can change those settings globally or on a per-site level. Learn more about Managed Plugin Updates settings here!
- What happens if my site has an issue after the plugin updates?
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We complete a site inspection to ensure that your site is fully operational. If there are any issues with your site, the update will be rolled back to the previous version automatically. We won’t leave your site in an errored state. Any errors will be noted in the update summary on the Managed Plugin Updates page or in each site’s plugins tab.
If you choose our Premium option, we don’t update your plugins in a production environment. Instead, we perform the updates on a separate cloned environment. Once updated, we’ll share the site with you and only push your updates live with your approval.
- Are there any plugins you don't update or any exceptions?
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We do not update any premium plugins that are missing an up-to-date license key in the WordPress admin. We only offer Premium Managed Plugin Updates for multisites.
- Is there an option for updates on staging or a separate environment from my live site?
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Absolutely! With our Premium option, we don’t update your plugins in a production environment. Instead, we perform the updates in a separate cloned environment. Once updated, we share the site with you and only push your updates live with your approval. Contact our product specialists to get a custom quote for the premium add-on.
- I have another question.
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For more information about Managed Plugin Updates, check out our overview help doc or our full FAQ. And as always, if you have any other questions, just give us a call at 402-235-6105 or drop us a line at [email protected].
