Siteward 0.16 adds safe updates, free: before your dashboard updates a plugin or theme, the site saves the current version, checks itself afterwards, and puts the old version back automatically if the update broke it. Siteward Pro 0.13 adds one-click rollback from the dashboard. Both are available now through the normal WordPress update screens.
A bad plugin update is the one part of fleet maintenance that can take a client site down while you are not looking. Updating in bulk saves hours, but until now it also meant trusting every update you ran. Safe updates puts a safety net under each one. We tested it on 20 live client sites during our own weekly update round before releasing it.
Safe updates with automatic rollback (free)
Every plugin or theme update your dashboard runs now goes through three steps on the site:
- Save. The version being replaced is saved on the site before anything changes.
- Check. Straight after the update, the site loads its own homepage and admin area as a visitor would.
- Roll back if it broke. If the site shows a server error, WordPress’s critical error page, or the plugin can no longer be activated, the previous version is put back automatically and the plugin is switched back on.
When an update is rolled back you get an Update rolled back email (and a Zapier alert too, if you use Pro), naming the site, the plugin or theme, the version it tried and what went wrong. The update screen on your dashboard marks the item as rolled back, so you know which updates to look at before trying again.
Slow hosts are allowed for. A plain server error straight after an update is checked again a few times over about 25 seconds before anything is undone, so a busy server catching up is not mistaken for a broken site. WordPress’s critical error page is never ambiguous, so that still triggers a rollback straight away.
Safe updates is on by default. You can switch it off under Siteward → Settings, and turn rollback alerts on or off separately.
A Rollback tab on every site (free)
Each managed site keeps the versions it replaced for 7 days. Its own Settings → Siteward Connection → Rollback tab lists them, with a button to put any of them back by hand. Useful when an update did not break the site outright but changed something your client noticed a day later.
Saved versions are zip files in a randomly named folder on the site itself. They are deleted after 7 days, replaced at the item’s next update, and removed if the child plugin is deleted. Nothing is sent anywhere else.
One-click rollback from the dashboard (Pro)
With Siteward Pro, each site’s page on your dashboard has a Recent updates section. It lists the versions that site saved in the last 7 days, with a Roll back button for each, so you can undo an update from the dashboard without logging in to the site.
What safe updates does not cover
- The database. Only plugin and theme files are saved. If an update changes the database, putting the old files back does not undo that, so keep your normal backups running.
- WordPress core. Safe updates covers plugins and themes.
- Sites on an older child plugin. They still update as before, without a snapshot, and the update screen shows them as Updated, but not protected.
How to update
- On your Siteward dashboard, go to Dashboard → Updates and update Siteward to 0.16.
- Update the child plugin on each managed site: Siteward Child to 0.8.1, or Siteward Advanced Child to 0.8.1. Siteward’s own Updates page lists them, so you can update the whole fleet from there.
- If you have Pro, update Siteward Pro to 0.13 from the same screen, then open any site to find Recent updates.
This release also fixes the Updates page tag filter: choosing a tag now limits the update counts and the Update all button to that tag’s sites. 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.
Common questions
How does Siteward decide an update broke a site?
Straight after the update, the site loads its own homepage and admin area as a visitor would. If either returns a server error, if the homepage shows WordPress's critical error page, or if the updated plugin can no longer be activated, Siteward puts the previous version back and switches the plugin back on.
Will a slow host cause false rollbacks?
It should not. A plain server error straight after an update is checked again a few times over about 25 seconds before anything is undone, so a busy server catching up is not mistaken for a broken site. WordPress's critical error page still triggers a rollback straight away.
Does safe updates back up the database?
No. Only the plugin or theme files are saved. If an update changes the database, putting the old files back does not undo that, so keep your normal backups running.
Which versions do I need?
Siteward 0.16 on the dashboard, and Siteward Child 0.8.1 or Siteward Advanced Child 0.8.1 on each managed site. Sites on an older child still update, without a snapshot, and are shown as Updated, but not protected. One-click rollback from the dashboard needs Siteward Pro 0.13.
Is safe updates free?
Yes. Automatic rollback, the alerts and the Rollback tab on each site are part of free Siteward, for unlimited sites. Siteward Pro adds one-click rollback from the dashboard, so you can undo an update without logging in to the site.
How long are previous versions kept?
7 days. Each site keeps the version it replaced for every plugin and theme it updated, in a randomly named folder on the site itself. They are deleted after 7 days, replaced at the item's next update, and removed if the child plugin is deleted.
See it on your own sites.
Monitor unlimited sites free, or add Pro when you want expiry alerts, dynamic tags and integrations.