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Advanced Automatic Updates

By Gary Pendergast

Site Administration & Utilities / URL Redirects & 301 Management

Advanced Automatic Updates Review - In-Depth Analysis

Enhance WordPress automatic updates with additional options for major releases, plugins, and themes.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.9/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 61+ reviews)

Active Installations

20,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

Advanced Automatic Updates adds extra options to WordPress' built-in Automatic Updates feature. It supports installing major releases, plugins, themes, or even regular SVN checkouts in addition to security updates.

If you're working on a WordPress Multisite install, it will properly restrict the options page to your Network Admin.

While this will be useful for the vast majority of sites, please exercise caution, particularly if you have any custom themes or plugins running on your site.

Comparing to Alternatives

Advanced Automatic Updates is a straightforward plugin focused on automating WordPress updates. Compared to other update managers, it emphasizes simplicity and automatic functionality.

Top alternatives

Advanced Automatic Updates

Strengths

Automatically updates plugins and themes without manual intervention.
Supports updating premium themes and plugins, not just those from WordPress.org.
Simple and easy to use with minimal configuration required.

Weaknesses

Lacks email notification for update completions.
No logging feature to track completed updates.
Limited advanced customization options compared to some competitors.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback reveals a mix of satisfaction and issues, highlighting the plugin's effectiveness and some missing features.

Positive highlights

'Works beautifully, so happy with this!!' - vermaakpetrus
'Plugin perfectly works even with premium themes' - martonlente
'Very simple and easy to use. I can only recommend it!' - al3x22
'Se actualizan solos. Muy recomendable.' (They update themselves. Highly recommended.) - inakijm
'Works' - kotyarashop

Common complaints

Plugin sometimes fails to update all plugins as expected.
Email update notifications do not function yet.
Lack of update logs to verify completed actions.

Weaknesses

Inconsistent update success reported by some users.
Missing notification and logging features reduce transparency.
Limited support for advanced update management needs.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, no-fuss solution to automate WordPress plugin and theme updates, including premium ones, will find this plugin suitable.

Not ideal for

Those requiring detailed update logs, email notifications, or advanced customization options may find this plugin lacking.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers automatic updates for plugins and themes, including premium ones, with easy setup and minimal user input.

Final Verdict

Advanced Automatic Updates provides a straightforward and effective way to keep WordPress plugins and themes up to date automatically, especially useful for users who prefer set-and-forget solutions.

However, the lack of email notifications and update logs may limit its appeal for users who want more control and transparency over the update process.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Advanced Automatic Updates plugin.

automatic updates

wordpress updates

multisite support

Screenshots

FAQ

The debug email doesn’t provide a filter to allow changing the email address it’s being sent to. This will hopefully change in a future release of WordPress, you can follow progress in this ticket.