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Configure automatic updates

Watchful can automatically install core, plugin, theme, and extension updates on your WordPress and Joomla! websites, helping you keep them secure and up to date.

You can enable automatic updates for individual software items, all eligible software on selected websites, or all websites in your Watchful account. Scheduling rules also let you prevent updates during specific periods or when backups are outdated.

Before you begin

Before enabling automatic updates, make sure your websites have regular backups. This gives you a recovery option if an update causes problems.

Choose a backup frequency that matches how often your website changes. For example, busy e-commerce sites may need backups every few hours, while less active websites may only need daily or weekly backups.

We also recommend disabling automatic updates configured directly in your website’s backend. This helps ensure that updates follow the rules you configure in Watchful.

Enable automatic updates for individual software

You can enable automatic updates for specific plugins, themes, extensions, and core software. This approach gives you control over which software Watchful updates automatically.

To enable automatic updates:

  1. Log in to your Watchful dashboard.
  2. Find the website you want to configure and click its name to open the site drawer.
  3. Select Updater.
  4. Locate the software you want to update automatically.
  5. Click Enable Auto Update.

Watchful will automatically install future updates for the selected software when they become available, subject to any scheduling restrictions.

Repeat these steps for other software items as needed.

Enable automatic updates for the same software across multiple sites

You can also enable automatic updates for a specific plugin or extension across your existing websites.

  1. Open a website’s site drawer and select Updater.
  2. Locate the software you want to configure.
  3. Click the arrow beside Enable Auto Update.
  4. Select Enable Auto Update on All Sites.

Watchful enables automatic updates for that software on applicable websites already in your account.

Note: This setting applies to the selected software, not every plugin or extension installed on those websites. It does not automatically apply to new websites added later.

Enable automatic updates for all software on selected sites

Watchful lets you automatically update every eligible software item on selected websites.

This option is useful when you want Watchful to manage software updates for an entire website instead of configuring individual plugins, themes, extensions, and core software.

To enable automatic updates for selected websites:

  1. Open Auto Updater from the left menu in the Watchful dashboard.
  2. Find the Auto-updating all site software section.
  3. Click Add Sites.
  4. Select the checkboxes beside the websites you want to configure.
  5. Click Save.

Watchful will automatically update eligible core software, plugins, themes, and extensions on the selected websites, subject to any scheduling restrictions.

The selected websites appear in the Auto-updating all site software section.

Enable automatic updates for all your sites

If you want Watchful to manage all eligible software updates across your entire account, you do not need to select websites individually.

To enable this option:

  1. Open Auto Updater from the left menu in the Watchful dashboard.
  2. Find the Auto-updating all site software section.
  3. Check Automatically update all my sites.

Watchful will automatically update eligible core software, plugins, themes, and extensions on all websites in your account, subject to any scheduling restrictions.

Important: Enabling Automatically update all my sites applies to all websites in your Watchful account, not just those selected individually.

Manage sites with automatic updates enabled

The Auto-updating all site software section displays websites individually configured for comprehensive automatic updates.

You can:

  • Click Add Sites to include more websites.
  • Click Remove beside a website to remove it from the selected list.
  • Enable Automatically update all my sites to apply comprehensive automatic updates across your account.

To return to managing selected websites individually, uncheck Automatically update all my sites.

Automatically updating all software offers less control over individual updates. If you prefer to test certain plugins or extensions before updating them, consider enabling automatic updates for individual software instead.

Schedule automatic updates

The Auto Update Scheduler lets you control when automatic updates are allowed to run.

Rather than choosing an exact time for each update, you create exclusion rules that prevent updates during specified periods or when backups are outdated.

For example, you can prevent automatic updates on weekends and allow them to resume on Monday.

Create an automatic update exclusion rule

  1. Open Auto Updater from the left menu in the Watchful dashboard.
  2. Find the Auto-update scheduling section.
  3. Click New Rule.
  4. Choose the exclusion rule type.
  5. Select the rule’s scope, including the affected CMS and software types.
  6. Configure the dates, times, or backup conditions.
  7. Save the rule.

You can create multiple rules to match your preferred update schedule.

Types of exclusion rules

Watchful supports three types of scheduling exclusions:

  • Recurring exclusions: Prevent automatic updates during repeating periods, such as evenings or weekends.
  • One-time exclusions: Prevent automatic updates during a specific date range, such as a vacation or maintenance period.
  • Backup-based exclusions: Delay automatic updates when your website backups are stale or outdated.

For example, you might configure the following rules:

RuleConditionScopeDetails
Stale backupDon’t updateAny softwareWhen the last backup is stale
WeeklyDon’t updateAny softwareFriday 14:00 – Monday 08:00

These rules prevent automatic updates when their conditions apply.

When an exclusion ends, Watchful can resume automatic updates for the affected software. Similarly, backup-based restrictions allow updates to proceed once the applicable backup requirements are satisfied.

Manage scheduling rules

Saved rules appear in the Auto-update scheduling section.

The table shows each rule’s type, condition, scope, details, and status.

You can:

  • Click Pause to temporarily disable a rule.
  • Click Delete to remove a rule permanently.
  • Filter rules by status to find active or paused exclusions.

Existing rules cannot be edited. To change a rule’s settings, delete it and create a replacement.

Manage automatic updates

The Auto Updater page provides a central overview of your automatic update configuration.

It contains separate sections for scheduling rules, comprehensive site updates, individual software updates, and core updates.

Auto-updating software

The Auto-updating software section provides a detailed list of plugins, themes, and extensions available for automatic updates.

For each software item, Watchful displays:

  • Site name
  • Software name
  • Content management system
  • Software type
  • Automatic update status
  • Last updated date

Click Enable or Disable beside a software item to control its automatic updates. You can also sort and filter the table by site, software name, CMS, type, status, or last updated date.

You can also sort the table and filter results by site, software name, CMS, type, status, or last updated date.

These controls help you manage automatic updates across many websites without opening each site’s settings individually.

Add software to the Auto Updater

You can enable automatic updates for the same software across multiple websites using the bulk addition tool.

  1. Open Auto Updater from the left menu.
  2. In the Auto-updating software section, click Add software.
  3. Select one or more software items from the list. Use the filters to narrow your selection.
  4. Click Save.

Watchful displays the progress as it enables automatic updates for the selected software across applicable websites where it is installed.

Note: Bulk additions apply to websites currently in your account. You must repeat the process or configure automatic updates separately for websites added later.

Pause or restart automatic updates

You can temporarily pause automatic updates without disabling them. Watchful lets you pause individual software items or all updates within a software category.

To pause or restart an individual software item:

  1. Open Auto Updater from the left menu.
  2. Find the software in the Auto-updating software section.
  3. Click the dropdown arrow beside its action button.
  4. Select Pause or Restart, depending on its current status.

To manage multiple updates at once, click Pause all or Restart all in the Auto-updating software or Auto-updating core section.

Note: The software and core sections have separate bulk controls. Pausing updates in one section does not automatically pause the other.

Pausing temporarily suspends automatic updates while preserving their configuration. In contrast, disabling automatic updates turns them off until you enable them again.

Auto-updating core

The Auto-updating core section manages automatic updates for WordPress and Joomla! core software separately from plugins, themes, and extensions.

Use Add Sites to include websites in core automatic update management, or click Enable or Disable beside a website to change its setting.

The table displays each website’s CMS and automatic update status. You can also use the section’s bulk pause and restart controls.

Disable automatic updates

You can disable automatic updates for individual software items, selected websites, or your entire account.

Disable updates for individual software

  1. Open the website’s site drawer.
  2. Select Plugins/Extensions.
  3. Locate the software you want to manage.
  4. Click Disable Auto Updates.

Alternatively, locate the software in the Auto-updating software section and use its Disable control.

Disable comprehensive updates for a selected site

  1. Open Auto Updater.
  2. Find the Auto-updating all site software section.
  3. Locate the website you want to remove.
  4. Click Remove.

Disable comprehensive updates across all sites

  1. Open Auto Updater.
  2. Find the Auto-updating all site software section.
  3. Uncheck Automatically update all my sites.

Disabling comprehensive automatic updates does not prevent you from enabling automatic updates for individual software items.

Likewise, disabling automatic updates does not prevent you from installing updates manually through Watchful.

How automatic updates work

Watchful checks connected websites for available software updates.

  • Watchful typically detects available updates within 1–6 hours after they appear in the website backend.
  • Once Watchful detects an update for software with automatic updates enabled, it attempts installation at intervals of a few minutes, subject to scheduling restrictions.
  • Completed updates appear in the site’s activity logs.
  • You can enable or disable automatic updates for individual software items or configure comprehensive automatic updates for selected sites or all sites.

Watchful supports automatic updates for eligible WordPress and Joomla! core software, plugins, themes, and extensions.

Limitations and best practices

Automatic updates reduce routine maintenance, but they cannot eliminate every risk associated with software changes.

Keep these recommendations in mind:

  • Maintain regular backups. Backups give you a recovery option if an update causes problems.
  • Choose the appropriate update method. Enable individual software updates when you need more control, update all software on selected websites, or enable comprehensive updates across your account.
  • Use scheduling exclusions. Avoid automatic updates during business-critical periods or when you cannot easily investigate problems.
  • Review update activity. Check your site’s activity logs to confirm that updates have completed.
  • Check your websites regularly. The Auto Updater does not perform post-update checks to determine whether an update has changed the website’s appearance or functionality.
  • Review account-wide settings. Before enabling Automatically update all my sites, make sure comprehensive automatic updates are appropriate for every website you manage.

Watchful does not provide a permanent software blacklist for the Auto Updater. However, you can control which software or websites are configured for automatic updates.

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