wordpress updates

About that “Weekly jQuery Migrate Status Update” email

We’ve received a good number of support requests about the “Weekly jQuery Migrate Status Update” emails from WordPress this past year.

These mailers are a new feature of the “Enable jQuery Migrate Helper” plugin.

With the update to WordPress 5.5, a migration tool known as jquery-migrate was disabled by default. This disabling of that function may lead to lacking functionality or unexpected behavior in some themes or plugins that run older code.

The plugin, Enable jQuery Migrate Helper, was installed as a temporary solution, enabling the migration script for your site to give your plugin and theme authors some more time to update, and test their code.

Recently, this plugin has been sending “deprecated” email alerts to administrators as well.

The word “deprecated” simply means that some function within a plugin or theme no longer meets the latest WordPress coding standards.

Should you be concerned?

Answer: No, but maybe…

WordPress is evolving and in doing so, some older coding standards will be left behind, to be replaced by newer faster, more secure standards. If you have received a deprecated message, like the one below, the message is simply a reminder that older code may stop functioning someday in the future.

Since maintaining the latest updates is just smart business where WordPress is concerned, be sure to check what is described as deprecated within the email alert and update that if possible.

In the example notice above, you’ll see that the alert relates to the “Dandelion” theme. Once the client updated his theme the error reports ended—the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin was no longer required and then deleted.

If you wish to stop your website from sending these messages you could try deleting the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin. If your website functions without the plugin, you should be fine for a while.

If your website appears broken after disabling the plugin, just add the Enable jQuery Migrate Helper plugin back to fix the issue.

Enjoy!

About the HackGuard.com WordPress Updates and Security Service

What Can A Fella Do For $5ish a Month?” (or $12.95 without a bulk discount)

I’m asked this question often enough that I feel the need to write a post I could link back to on the topic of, “What can you do for $5ish a month?”

Well, quite a lot actually:

– Prevent hackers from hacking your website (or fix it quickly if they do).
– Monitor your website and help fix basic errors fast (often within an hour if they occur).
– Update your plugins for you and keep your WordPress installation up to date (checked many times a week).
– Manage daily backups of your website either locally or to a 3rd party service.
– Answer your questions by phone or email pretty much 24/7/365.
– And a great deal more, all for the price of a few cups of coffee per month—seriously!

So what’s the catch?

Well, there is no catch. You may cancel at any time, and we’ll do our best to meet all of your update needs with a smile.

What HackGuard.com does not do?

Well, at 15 to 40ish cents a day we have a few reasonable limits.

We can’t do web design for you at 15 to 40ish cents a day. And for this reason, we will not be able to update your WordPress themes, WooCommerce plugins, other eCommerce-related plugins, or premium plugins like WPBakery Visual Composer, Revolution Slider, or other “paid” plugins (unless you have set up an auto-update option respectively).

Suffice it to say, if there’s a chance we could destroy your website’s appearance or layout–we won’t. Those design level tasks are best managed by an experienced web designer.

Why can’t HackGuard.com update my premium plugins?

Most premium plugins are pay-to-play plugins, meaning that updates often require login access to the plugin developer’s website, and some require payment to update.

That said, we are considering a 2nd tier of service to support premium plugins. For now, we’ll need your help in updating your commercial or premium type plugins as updates become available.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to call anytime, (619) 479-6637

WordPress 4.9.3 – Going into the tunnel and never coming out…

Going into the WordPress 4.9.3 version tunnel

In case you hadn’t heard, in early February 2018, WordPress did a double release of versions, from version 4.9.2 to 4.9.3, then 4.9.4 in a matter of two days.

For some WordPress websites, this led to a collision of versions, the end result being it broke the auto-update mechanism, leaving potentially millions of websites stuck on WordPress version 4.9.3; unable to auto-update to version 4.9.4.

WordPress auto-updates is an important built-in security feature.

Automated auto-updates help to protect your website against known vulnerabilities. Without a functioning auto-updates mechanism in place, a periodic visual review and update of your WordPress installations become even more important.

Below is a real-world example of the WordPress auto-update process failing on a client’s account.

As of February 9th, 2018, I found that 75% of a single client’s 150ish WordPress installations were apparently stranded on the WordPress version 4.9.3 train, with apparently no sign of ever coming out the other side (as 4.9.4).

The solution for this WordPress auto-updates problem?

Review and update your version of WordPress to 4.9.4 as soon as you are able.

How do I update WordPress?

Log into your WordPress, hover over the top left menu item, “Dashboard, click “Updates“, then “Update now.”

Alternately, for a small fee, I can help you update your version of WordPress safely.

I likewise provide a human managed WordPress service plan in case you are in need of ongoing WordPress updates and security management.

Happy Updating!

Jim