Install and Update WP Engine Owned Plugins and Themes

On September 30, WP Engine was blocked from accessing WordPress.org, subsequently the WP Engine engineering team has developed an alternative update mechanism for free community versions of plugins and themes.

WP Engine and Flywheel hosting customers are unaffected and do not need to take action, or manually install this update and will continue to receive updates to plugins and themes as usual through the WordPress® admin.¹

• All paid plugins from Delicious Brains (Advanced Custom Fields PRO, WP Migrate, WP Offload Media, WP Offload SES, Better Search Replace Pro, etc) are not impacted and will continue to receive updates as usual through the WordPress admin.
• Free community versions of WP Engine owned plugins on websites that are not hosted with WP Engine or Flywheel will need to perform a one-time manual update to ensure access to all future updates.
• Alternatively, the WP Engine Secure Updater plugin can be used to update all versions of these plugins in bulk to ensure access to all future updates.

If your website is not hosted at WP Engine or Flywheel, you can ensure that you receive updates promptly by following the steps below.

Impacted Plugins and Themes

Only free community versions of plugins and themes owned by WP Engine are impacted. These plugins and themes include:

• Advanced Custom Fields
• NitroPack (The free version of the plugin is used for free and paid NitroPack accounts and both will need the one-time manual update)
• WP Migrate Lite
• WP Offload Media Lite
• WP Offload SES Lite
• Better Search Replace
• Frost
• Genesis Blocks
• Genesis Custom Blocks
• Genesis Simple Hooks
• Genesis Connect for WooCommerce
• Genesis Simple Menus
• SEO Data Transporter
• Genesis Beta Tester
• Pattern Manager
• PHP Compatibility Checker

Download the Latest Version of Plugins and Themes

The versions linked below are the most up-to-date. They also include an update mechanism that interacts with the WP Engine update service.

This manual download/upload process is a one-time action. After these versions have been applied, you will be able to update these plugins/themes within the WordPress admin as normal.

Download the latest versions from the following links:

• Advanced Custom Fields
• NitroPack
• WP Migrate Lite
• WP Offload Media Lite
• WP Offload SES Lite
• Better Search Replace
• Frost
• Genesis Blocks
• Genesis Custom Blocks
• Genesis Simple Hooks
• Genesis Connect for WooCommerce
• Genesis Simple Menus
• SEO Data Transporter
• Genesis Beta Tester
• Pattern Manager
• PHP Compatibility Checker

First-Time Plugin and Theme Installation

If this is your first time installing one of these plugins or themes, follow these steps:

1. Download the updated version of the plugin/theme
2. Log in to your website’s WordPress admin
3. Navigate to Plugins/Themes > Add new
4. Upload the zip file
5. Click to activate the plugin/theme

Update to the Latest Version of Plugins and Themes

If you already have versions of these plugins or themes installed on your website, there are two options to receive both immediate and ongoing updates.

Option 1: Single Plugin/Theme

If your website has a single free WP Engine owned plugin or theme, you can download the installable zip file and then upload the file via the WordPress admin to install it on your site.

This is a one-time action that will link your plugin or theme to WP Engine’s update service for future updates in the WordPress admin.

Follow these steps:

1. Download the updated version of the plugin/theme
2. Log in to your website’s WordPress admin
3. Navigate to Plugins/Themes > Add new
4. Upload the zip file
5. Confirm you want to overwrite the existing plugin

Option 2: Multiple Plugins/Themes

If you have multiple free WP Engine owned plugins or themes on your website, you can update them individually using the process outlined in option 1 above, or you can install the WP Engine Secure Updater plugin to centrally manage updates.

The WP Engine Secure Updater plugin will connect any free WP Engine owned plugins or themes installed on your website with our update service.

Follow these steps:

1. Download the WP Engine Secure Updater installable zip file
2. Log in to your website’s WordPress admin
3. Navigate to Plugins > Add new
4. Upload the zip file
5. Click to activate the WP Engine Secure Updater plugin
6. Visit the Plugins or Themes page to update the free WP Engine owned plugins or themes

We recommend leaving the WP Engine Secure Updater plugin installed until all free WP Engine owned plugins have been updated to the latest version. Plugins and themes updated with this service can be updated as normal in the WordPress admin moving forward.