Formitor updates like any other WordPress plugin: no downloading and re-uploading a zip.
One-click updates
When a new version is released, each site's Plugins screen (and Dashboard → Updates) shows an update notice for Formitor with a one-click Update now button. Click it and the site is current.
Check for updates on demand
Don't want to wait for WordPress's periodic check? Use the Check for updates link. It's on the Formitor row on the Plugins screen, and on the Formitor settings page next to the version number. It checks immediately and tells you whether you're up to date or offers the update.
Automatic updates
On the Plugins screen you can click Enable auto-updates next to Formitor, and WordPress will install new releases for you within about a day.
The one-time step
This flow is built into the plugin, so a site needs to be on v0.2.9 or later before one-click updates work. If a site is older, update it once the manual way: download the latest zip from the hub's Plugin button and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Every update after that is one click.
Seeing versions at a glance
Your dashboard flags any site on an outdated plugin, and each site's Formitor settings page shows its installed version next to the Open hub button.
Sites behind a firewall
Both routes above need something to reach your site. WordPress checks for updates by calling back to itself, and Formitor can push an update in from the hub. A firewall or security plugin that blocks incoming requests stops both, which used to leave a site quietly stuck on an old version.
From v0.2.43 the plugin also updates over the connection it already makes outward to Formitor. A site that has been behind for more than a day installs the release itself, with nothing having to reach in. A site that is already current does nothing.
When a site cannot update
Some sites cannot install updates at all. Rather than only showing that the version is old, your dashboard now names the reason on the site row:
- PHP too old: the release needs a newer PHP version than the site runs. Ask the host to raise it.
- Installs disabled: the site sets DISALLOW_FILE_MODS, so no plugin can be installed from inside WordPress. Update it through your host or deployment process.
- Files not writable: PHP cannot write to the plugins folder on this host. Update from the Plugins screen instead.
- Auto-update off: automatic updates were switched off for Formitor on this site. Update it from the Plugins screen.
The plugin will not install a release that your PHP version cannot run. It stops and reports the reason instead, so an update cannot take a site down.
The first check after an update proves containment
After the plugin updates to a new version, Formitor checks a single form and reads the site's own delivery log to confirm the test notification reached only Formitor's monitor inbox. Checks on the remaining forms continue only after that proof. This applies to scheduled checks, Run checks now, and background jobs.