A WordPress site needs constant attention: core, plugins and the server change all the time. This is the list we follow every month so nothing breaks without warning.
You can use it to review your own site or as a reference for what a good maintenance plan includes.
1. Updates
Updating without testing is the most common cause of sites going down. That’s why we always go through a staging environment first.
- WordPress core on the latest stable version.
- Plugins and theme, reviewing the changelog of each one.
- A compatible PHP version that’s still supported.
2. Backups
A backup is only useful if it can be restored. Besides scheduling them, we check that they’re complete.
- Full copy of files and database.
- At least one copy off the server.
- A restore test every now and then, in a separate environment.
Make a manual backup, even if your automatic ones are up to date. It’s the fastest way to roll back if something goes wrong.
3. Security
Most security problems come from outdated plugins or access that nobody reviews.
- Users with the administrator role: only the ones you need.
- Unused plugins: deactivated and deleted.
- File scanning and a check for known vulnerabilities.
4. Performance
We measure with PageSpeed Insights and check that caching, images and the database are in order. For repetitive tasks we use WP-CLI:
# See which plugins have pending updates
wp plugin list --update=available
# Optimize the database
wp db optimize
# Flush the object cache
wp cache flush5. Report
We close the month with a summary of what was done, what we found and what we recommend for the next one. That way the client always knows what state their site is in.
Good maintenance is the kind you don’t notice: the site just works.
If you’d rather not deal with this, our maintenance plans take care of it every month and you can follow it in your Hubsly portal.