Control WordPress updates
Use Updates → Update controls to choose whether WordPress, installed plugins and themes can be updated, and which updates run automatically. These nine independent controls are intended for site owners and administrators responsible for software maintenance.
Open the right settings screen
- Multisite: sign in as a network administrator and open Network Admin → Settings → POM Tweaks → Updates → Update controls. The policy applies throughout the current network, including scheduled updates. These controls do not appear in individual site settings.
- Standalone WordPress: open Settings → POM Tweaks → Updates → Update controls with permission to manage site options.
POM Tweaks must be active in the contexts where the policy is used. For multisite, network activation ensures that scheduled and site requests load the same controls. Separate networks retain separate configurations.
Choose the controls
| Control | Result while enabled |
|---|---|
| Disable WordPress core updates | Blocks manual and automatic WordPress core updates through the native updater and hides core update offers. |
| Hide the Updates menu | Hides Dashboard → Updates and the toolbar update link. It does not block updates or direct access for users who retain permission. Upgrade Network remains available. |
| Hide the update footer | Hides the WordPress version and update message on the right side of the administration footer. |
| Automatic WordPress core updates | Applies the selected core policy described below. |
| Disable plugin updates | Blocks manual, bulk and automatic updates to installed plugins through WordPress. |
| Disable theme updates | Blocks manual, bulk and automatic updates to installed themes through WordPress. |
| Automatic plugin updates | Enables automatic updates for all eligible plugins. |
| Automatic theme updates | Enables automatic updates for all eligible themes. |
| Automatic translation updates | Enables automatic installation of eligible language updates. |
Update blocks always take priority over the corresponding automatic-update control. Plugin and theme blocks leave new installations available. Cached translation offers remain available independently from plugin and theme version offers.
Configure automatic core updates
- Enable Automatic WordPress core updates and select Save to initialize its fields.
- Choose Automatic core update policy:
- WordPress default leaves the native policy and other integrations unchanged.
- Disable automatic core updates prevents automatic core installation while leaving manual updates available unless separately blocked.
- Minor releases only permits stable releases within the current branch, such as 6.9.1 to 6.9.2.
- Major and minor releases also permits the next stable branch, such as 6.9 to 7.0.
- Select Save and reopen the page to verify your choice.
Explicit core policies exclude development releases, equal or older versions, and offers prevented by WordPress's previous-failure checks. Automatic controls do not bypass filesystem permissions, version-control checkout detection, global automatic-updater disabling, or an update provider's explicit automatic-update opt-out. Enabling a control does not immediately install an update.
Check the result
- Reload the settings page after saving and confirm the intended switches and core policy.
- If hiding navigation or the footer, open another administration page and inspect it. In multisite, check both Network Admin and a site dashboard.
- If blocking updates, verify that the affected update offers and normal update actions are unavailable. Turn off the matching block before performing a planned update.
- For automatic updates, review WordPress update status and notifications after the next scheduled run. A setting allows eligible updates; it does not guarantee that the hosting environment can complete them.
Restore normal updates
Turn off the relevant control and select Save. Reload the administration page. POM Tweaks does not permanently remove role capabilities or delete WordPress update events. Normal checks and permissions resume with WordPress and any other active update manager. Cached offers are not erased by these controls, although a fresh WordPress check may be needed for current availability.
If automatic updates still do not run, check the matching block, the chosen core policy, hosting restrictions, WordPress scheduling and any other update manager. When WordPress default or a control is off, POM Tweaks does not force that type of automatic update on or off.
These controls govern WordPress update mechanisms. Hosting deployments, direct file replacements and external deployment tools are outside their scope. Maintain a separate process for applying required software updates while a block is enabled.