Keeping your website up to date is one of the most important parts of maintaining a secure, stable, and reliable platform.
Content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress are actively developed, with regular updates released to improve security, fix bugs, and introduce new functionality. Alongside this, plugins or contributed modules also receive ongoing updates that need to be managed carefully.
Our Website Care service includes the ongoing management of these updates, helping to ensure your website continues to perform as expected without unnecessary risk.
Why updates matter
Security
Many updates address known vulnerabilities. Leaving a website outdated can expose it to attacks, data breaches, or unauthorised access.
Stability
Updates often include bug fixes that improve reliability and help prevent unexpected behaviour.
Compatibility
As hosting environments, PHP versions, browsers, and third-party integrations evolve, updates help ensure your website continues to function correctly within its wider ecosystem.
What we update
Core system updates
We apply updates to the underlying CMS, such as Drupal core or WordPress core, helping to keep your platform secure, supported, and aligned with current best practice.
Contributed modules and plugins
Third-party extensions are reviewed and updated regularly to help maintain compatibility, reduce security exposure, and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
Security releases
Security updates are prioritised and applied promptly where appropriate, helping to reduce exposure to known vulnerabilities.
How updates are managed
Updates are not simply applied blindly. Each update should be reviewed and handled with care.
- Assessing the scope and likely impact of the update
- Applying updates in a controlled and considered way
- Checking for regressions or unexpected issues afterwards
- Helping ensure the website remains functional and stable
Where possible, updates should be tested before being applied to a live environment.
Access requirements
To carry out updates effectively, appropriate access is usually required. This may include:
- CMS administrative access
- Server or hosting access, such as SSH or control panel access
- Version control access where applicable
This helps updates to be carried out safely and efficiently.
Risks and considerations
While updates are essential, they can occasionally introduce issues, particularly on websites with custom functionality or older dependencies.
For example:
- Custom code may rely on older APIs or deprecated functionality
- Contributed modules or plugins may introduce breaking changes
- Theme or frontend behaviour may be affected
- Third-party integrations may need review after changes are applied
Because of this, updates should always be approached with care rather than treated as a routine checkbox task.
Rollbacks and issue resolution
If an update causes an issue, the priority is to investigate the cause and restore the website to a stable state as quickly as possible.
- Investigating the root cause of the problem
- Rolling back changes where necessary
- Restoring the website to a working and stable version
In some cases, resolving update-related issues may require additional development work, particularly where custom code, templates, or integrations need to be adjusted to support newer versions.
Where this happens, any additional work should be discussed and agreed before proceeding. Depending on the nature of the issue, this may fall outside routine care plan coverage and may be chargeable.
Why it helps to have an expert involved
Updates can appear simple on the surface, but in practice they often require experience and judgement.
Managing updates properly means understanding dependencies between components, recognising potential risks before applying changes, and knowing how to recover quickly if something goes wrong.
Having an experienced developer manage this process helps reduce disruption and supports the long-term health, security, and reliability of your website.