WP Toolkit v6.1 is the first major WP Toolkit release out in 2023, starting the year with a bang.
And we are also excited to announce the release of the much-anticipated WP Toolkit Deluxe! Can’t wait? Let’s dive inside this major update:
Smart PHP Updates
Remember the Smart Updates feature? Its younger cousin is now here: the name is Smart PHP Updates, and it helps users check how your site will work on a different PHP versions:
The problem this feature is solving is deceptively simple: PHP versions are constantly getting EOLed, and using a PHP version that’s not supported by the vendor anymore is asking to get hacked. Unfortunately, older versions of WordPress and certain plugins might not work with newer PHP versions due to certain PHP functions not being backwards compatible (or being deprecated). Switching your PHP version blindly might lead to your site not working, so users are left with a problem that’s easy to understand but not easy to solve.
Here’s how Smart PHP Update helps address this conundrum:
- Site administrator chooses which PHP version should be used on the clone
- Smart PHP Update clones the production website and runs it on a different PHP version, checking for issues that appear after the PHP version switch
- Site administrator is provided with a detailed list of changes detected after the PHP version switch
- Smart PHP Update also notifies about preexisting issues that are present on a site before the switch
- Site administrator can access the test site at any time to check it personally
- If site administrator confirms PHP version switch, Smart PHP Update deletes the test site and changes the PHP version on the production site
This feature is integrated with Plesk Service Plans. Like with its cousin, we’re showing the upsell prompt to everyone by default. To hide this feature completely, you need to add `smartPhpUpdateFeature = false` to the corresponding section of the panel.ini (Plesk) or config.ini (cPanel) file.
Similar to Smart Updates, this is a premium feature, and it needs to be purchased separately if you’re using Plesk. To purchase this feature, you need to get WP Toolkit Deluxe offer, which we’ll talk about right away.
WP Toolkit Deluxe
To make sure our customers get the most value for their buck, we are introducing an offer called the WP Toolkit Deluxe, which includes not only Smart PHP Updates, but also Smart Updates! We want to offer this solution as a winning tool for all WordPress professionals, so it will be focused on providing top-class control over WordPress sites with an ever-increasing selection of premium features. That’s right, we are going to add more features to the Deluxe offer in the future!
Here’s what you need to know about WP Toolkit Deluxe licensing:
- It requires a separate license specific to the current Plesk edition.
- The license grants unlimited use of all included features for all sites hosted on a server.
- WP Toolkit Deluxe for Web Admin requires purchase of full WP Toolkit in order to work.
- Upgrading your Plesk license to a different edition does not automatically upgrade your WP Toolkit Deluxe license. You will need to purchase a new Deluxe license that fits your new Plesk Edition.
Note that the WP Toolkit license does not conflict with any Smart Updates licenses users might have on their servers — it will simply supersede these licenses.
What’s Next
After introducing WP Toolkit Deluxe offer, the first thing we’d like to add is a Deluxe trial experience for server administrators. Specifically, we are aiming to add a time-limited trial that’s activated in the product itself and does not require providing payment details or anything like that. Besides Deluxe trial, we are working on addressing WordPress vulnerabilities via technology called virtual patching. Both of these things are quite big, so chances are we’ll do a smaller release before they become available. Stay tuned and thank you for your time!
with
One comment
Great Andrey Kugaevskiy! It is a complete helpful guide on WP Toolkit 6.1 Release and Introduction WP Toolkit Deluxe. This article helped me a lot to know about WP Toolkit. Thank you.