What it does
Updates lists every plugin, theme and core update pending across your fleet. A restore point is always created before a batch runs, so an update that breaks something can be undone from Restoring a site.
How to
- Select one or more pending updates and click Update selected, or click Update on a single row.
- The row itself becomes the progress indicator — it shows Updating… with a spinner in place of the action button while the batch runs.
- When the batch finishes: a succeeded item leaves the pending list and appears for a short while in a Recently updated strip; a failed item stays in the list, turns red, shows its error, and offers a Retry button.
- A toast summarizes the outcome — e.g. "2 updated, 1 failed" — once the batch settles.
A restore point is always taken automatically before a batch runs — you don't need to remember to create one yourself. Every batch remembers which point that was, so an undo from the Backups tab (or an automatic rollback under a scheduled update policy) restores exactly the state from before that batch.
Limits & defaults
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Restore point | Taken before every batch, local and fast (incremental snapshot); recorded on the batch as its pre-update point |
| Rolling back | Manual batches: restore the pre-update point from the site's Backups tab. Scheduled batches: optionally automatic when the visual diff fails — see Scheduled updates |
| Concurrent batches | Only one running batch per site at a time — buttons disable with "A batch is already running for this site" |
| Requires | The site must be connected (paired and synced) to run updates |
| Permissions | Owner, admin and tech can run updates; viewer sees the controls disabled with a reason |
Troubleshooting
A row seems stuck on "Updating…"
The row stays in that state until the batch itself reaches a final status, not just until the click is acknowledged — give it a little longer, especially on shared hosting, before assuming it's stuck.
An update broke the site's layout
Open the site's Backups tab and restore the pre-update point that was taken right before the batch — see Restoring a site. For scheduled updates you can have this happen automatically when the screenshot diff exceeds the policy threshold: Automatic rollback.
An update failed
The row shows the specific error text next to Retry — most failures are host-side (execution time limits, a plugin's own update conflicting with another). Retry re-runs just that item. If it says the host can't write its own files, WordPress on that server has no direct write access to its folders (usually the files belong to a different user than PHP runs as): add
define( 'FS_METHOD', 'direct' ); to wp-config.php if PHP may write there, or the FTP_HOST, FTP_USER and FTP_PASS constants, then Retry. Sites on a WPClientHub One plugin older than 2.0.1 cannot say why; update the plugin to see the reason.The button is disabled and says "Your role can view but not change sites"
You're signed in as a Viewer — see Team & roles matrix.