Upgrading WordPress

WordPress (WP or WordPress.org) is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as Themes. WordPress was created as a blog-publishing system but has evolved to support other web content types, including more traditional mailing lists and forums, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems (LMS), and online stores. One of the most popular content management system solutions, WordPress is used by 43.5% of the top 10 million websites as of October 2024. There are over 835 million WordPress installations on the internet.

Most of the websites designed and hosted by Simply Web Services are built on WordPress. We love how it works, we are extremely familiar with it, and we are aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

**NOTE** This is for updating the WordPress core, not the plugins or themes.

1. Make sure to back up your WordPress Database. If you don’t have a way to back up your WordPress database (and entire website), I highly recommend the UpdraftPlus plugin. It is free and allows you to make a complete backup not only of your database but also of the entire website.
2. Log in to your WordPress installation
3. Within the wp-admin backend, click on Dashboard > Updates
4. Click on the Update Now button
5. That is all there is to it. When it is done, you will see a welcome screen.