Why is being up to date important?
The first thing that comes to everybody’s mind is: Security!
That is a misconception though.
You need to be up-to-date because support will ask if you are using the latest versions or not!
Just kidding. 🙂 Security is important and you should check regularly if there is an update.
Also this will probably be the first question the support agent will ask you.
“Hey, I see your plugin is not the latest version. Please update and check if you are still experiencing the problem. Thanks!”
Save yourself the time on this extra exchange and update proactively.
If you have a good reason to stick to an older version – it can happen – let the support agent know about it.
A side note on updates
Updates are important. But they can also break some websites on occasion. Of course this happens unexpectedly and not on purpose. Plugin developers are also human and make mistakes.
But there are things you can do to prevent the update trouble. That was actually the topic of my first WordCamp talk in 2017, which you can check out here.
I would also like to add, that while being up-to-date is important, my number 1 rule is:
If you are in a period when it is crucial that your website works then DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!
For example a heavy sales period for an eCommerce website. Wait until the crucial time passes and do the updates only then. A crucial time can be stressful in itself, why double / triple that with a broken website.
This year (2019) in September I participated at WordCamp Zürich in Switzerland. I applied with a talk about how a support exchange, and thus reaching a resolution can be made faster. And I thought it would make a great blog series.
This is the first set of tips for Clients reaching out for support in the Faster Support – For Both Sides series.
Leave a Reply