Updating Module Plugins Safely And Securely

Whether you are using Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla or similar CMS you will want to keep your site and module plugins up-to-date for security as well as functionality reasons.

This can be straight forward or a tricky and time consuming task depending on the size of your site and the amount of modules installed.

Updating the core site with half a dozen extra modules would, 9 out of 10 times, be straight forward but then again who only has that many modules installed on their site?!

That's why when it comes to updating your site and its' modules you should follow a set procedure to insure your site looks and works in the same way as it did before you updated anything.

Backup Your Database

In Drupal there is the great backup and migrate module that allows you to schedule or manually take backups of your database, this is soon to be incorporated within core for Drupal 7. Similar modules are available for Joomla and Wordpress.

This should be your first port of call before and then between each module update incase of a failed update and you need to restore a previous backup.

You should also have the Update Status module installed for Drupal 5 or within core for Drupal 6 which will tell you which is the latest version of your module. From the update status page you can click through to the module's page and read any release notes that might effect installation, such as dependencies on other modules or a complete uninstall before reinstall.

From here you are now ready to update your CMS, installing the latest module one at a time whilst taking regular backups, checking as you go that the site is looking right and working as it should. If you have any custom modules then being able to restore a backup due to incompatibility is crucial.

Not all modules are created equal so taking time over updating your site is very important, one modules quick and easy upgrade doesn't mean the next is guaranteed.

Backups are your friend!