Siteward 0.17: Unsupported PHP Warnings and a Rebuilt Fleet Plugins

Siteward 0.17 flags sites running a PHP version that no longer gets security fixes, flags WordPress installs that have fallen behind, and puts known-vulnerability warnings on each site’s own Plugins screen, all free. Siteward Pro 0.14 rebuilds Fleet Plugins around a filter bar, so you act on exactly the sites you mean. Both are available now through the normal WordPress update screens.

PHP 8.1 stopped getting security fixes on 31 December 2025, and PHP 8.2 follows on 31 December 2026 (dates from php.net). A site on an unsupported PHP version can be fully patched at the WordPress level and still exposed underneath, and nothing in wp-admin tells you. When we ran this release against our own fleet, it found sites still on PHP 7.4 and 8.0 that nobody had noticed.

Unsupported PHP flag (free)

Siteward already knows the PHP version of every site it manages. It now compares it with PHP’s own end-of-support dates:

• Unsupported PHP. A site on a PHP version that no longer gets security fixes (8.1 and older today) gets the flag, and the Sites page has a filter for it, so you can see every affected site at once.
• Ending soon. From six months before a version’s end date, the site’s page says when its security support ends, so you can book the move with the host before it lapses. PHP 8.2 sites show this now.
• No upkeep needed. The end dates come from php.net and are kept in one list in the plugin, so PHP 8.2 is flagged automatically once its support ends on 31 December 2026.

Outdated WordPress flag (free)

Sites two or more major WordPress releases behind the latest get an Outdated WordPress flag and their own filter, and the site’s page says how many releases behind it is. One release behind is normal between updates, so it is not flagged.

Vulnerability warnings on each site’s Plugins screen (free)

Siteward’s vulnerability monitoring already shows every vulnerable plugin across the fleet on your dashboard. Now each site shows it too. With each sync, your dashboard hands the site its own matches, and a row appears under each affected plugin on that site’s Plugins screen with the rating, the CVE and the version that fixes it.

• Only people who can update plugins on that site see the rows.
• A row disappears as soon as the plugin is updated, without waiting for the next sync.
• The data comes from Wordfence Intelligence, credited in every row. The site itself fetches nothing.
• It is on by default. If your clients log in to their own sites and should not see these warnings, switch it off under Siteward → Settings → Vulnerability feed.

The rows need Siteward Child 0.9.0 or Siteward Advanced Child 0.9.0 on the site.

Fleet Plugins, rebuilt (Pro)

Fleet plugin management in Siteward Pro now starts from a filter bar instead of a list of checkboxes:

• Filter to exactly the sites you mean. Plugin name, tags (is or is not), site status, Siteward Child type and plugin state, including known vulnerabilities. A line under the bar always says which sites an action will run on, and Fine-tune sites leaves single sites out.
• Act on every site with a plugin. Click a plugin’s site count to narrow everything to the sites that have it, then flip the filter to the sites that don’t.
• A review before every action. Each action lists the sites it will run on, and which are skipped and why, before anything happens.
• Update in bulk. A new Update action runs alongside Install, Activate, Deactivate and Uninstall, and uses safe updates, so a broken update is rolled back automatically.
• Results you can act on. Failures are listed first, with Retry failed and Copy list. A long run can be minimised while you keep working.
• Problems first. A Vulnerable column with the worst rating, sortable columns, and the most serious problems at the top.
• Easier installs. Search WordPress.org by name, save plugins you install often as favourites, and use the page on a phone.

Installing plugins still needs Siteward Advanced Child on the site. The free Siteward Child can update, activate, deactivate and uninstall, but not install.

How to update

1. On your Siteward dashboard, go to Dashboard → Updates and update Siteward to 0.17.
2. Update the child plugin on each managed site to Siteward Child 0.9.0 or Siteward Advanced Child 0.9.0. Siteward’s own Updates page lists them, so you can update the whole fleet from there.
3. If you have Pro, update Siteward Pro to 0.14 from the same screen, then open Siteward → Fleet Plugins.

New to Siteward? Get it free on WordPress.org. It manages unlimited sites with no per-site fees. The full list of changes is on the changelog.

Tell us what to build next

If something would make Siteward more useful for the sites you look after, suggest a feature.