PHP 5 and 7.0 Reach End-of-Life
-PHP 5 and 7.0 will soon reach end-of-life. This means that these versions will no longer receive updates of any kind, including fixes for security issues. To ensure the on-going compatibility and security of your WordPress sites, you will need to upgrade to PHP 7.2. … continues
New Editor Coming in WordPress 5.0
-WordPress version 5.0 is due out in November. With this update comes one of the biggest changes to the WordPress core for many years — a brand new editor — named, Gutenberg.
Update: the release of WordPress 5.0 has been postponed to
Tuesday, November 27th. The release of WordPress 5.0 has been delayed further. At time of writing, no new date has been set. It will likely not be released until early 2019.
The Gutenberg editor, showing the “blocks” interface.
Price Drop on AutoSSL plans!
-Starting today, all WP NET Managed WordPress hosting plans include support for
FreeSSLAutoSSL.Update 19 August: We’ve decided to rename our FreeSSL feature to AutoSSL!
All customers on MWP2 servers are now able to install Let’s Encrypt certificates and convert their site to use the
https://prefix.This move is largely in response to recent changes in many of the major web browsers and how they display non-HTTPS websites. You may have heard recently that the Google Chrome browser will now display “insecure” in the address bar when viewing any site using HTTP. These changes are further driving the move towards SSL / TLS encryption for all websites.
Effective today, the Starter + SSL hosting plan is retired and all customers on that plan have been crossgraded to Starter 1GB. All customers who were previously on the Starter + SSL plan will have their next account reduced to the $29 per month ($319 per year) price.
Converting your site to HTTPS
Converting your site is pretty straightforward, just login to the Plesk Panel, go to the Security Advisor and follow the steps to install a Let’s Encrypt certificate and convert your site to use the
https://prefix.If you need any assistance or need more information, please see Using WordPress with SSL in our Knowledgebase or contact WP NET Support and we’ll be happy to help.
Announcing the Revisium AntiVirus Scanner
-We are thrilled to announce that the excellent Revisium Antivirus Scanner is now available to all customers on MWP2 servers.
Revisium AntiVirus Features
Revisium Antivirus is an intelligent malware detection tool with one-click automatic malware cleanup and blacklist status checking. Scans run automatically each night, and customers can review scan results and run additional scans on-demand directly in the Plesk Panel.
PHP 7.2 Now Available
-We are pleased to announce that the latest, greatest — and fastest ever — version of PHP: 7.2 is now available to all WP NET customers.
Customers on MWP2.0 shared-server plans and those on Managed Cloud Servers can now select PHP 7.2 for use.
Please note that WP NET will not automatically switch customers over to the new PHP version. Customers who want to use PHP 7.2 will need to login to the Plesk Panel (or Cloud Server Control Panel) and change the runtime for the sites they want to upgrade, this is very easy and quick to do and if you experience any issues you can immediately switch back to whatever runtime you were previously using.
Some WordPress themes and plugins may still not be fully compatible with PHP 7.2. If you do decide to upgrade to PHP 7.2, you will need to to carefully test your sites to ensure everything is working OK. If not, it’s a simple process to switch back to 7.1, 7.0 or 5.6. If you need any assistance, just contact WP NET Support and we’ll be happy to help.
Recently, the recommended PHP version for use with WordPress was changed to version 7.2.
PHP 7.2 Coming Soon
-The latest, greatest — and fastest ever — version of PHP: 7.2 will soon be available to all WP NET customers.
We are in the final stages of testing PHP 7.2 for both our shared-server Managed WordPress and Managed Cloud Server customers. Once we’re sure it is stable and compatible with all our systems we will release it for general availability. … continues
Updating Envato Market Themes & Plugins
-The Envato Market is a very popular source of premium themes and plugins, from their respective subsites: ThemeForest (themes) and CodeCanyon (plugins). Keeping your Envato Market WordPress themes and plugins up to date is important – updating themes and plugins provides security and bug fixes as well as feature updates and other enhancements.
Many users find updating Envato Market items difficult and time-consuming because they assume that the updates need to be downloaded from the Envato Market site and then manually installed, however – this is not the case. Thanks to the (mysteriously under promoted) Envato Market WordPress plugin, it’s possible to auto-update all of your Envato Market themes and plugins. … continues
Updating WooCommerce
-WooCommerce 3.2 is out, and I thought it might be a good idea write a comprehensive guide to help our customers (and others) who find the process a little daunting. So, here it is…
Note: a version of this post can also be found in our Knowledgebase.
Before You Update WooCommerce … STOP!
Updating WooCommerce is a more involved process than updating most other WordPress plugins and we urge you to read this article in full and understand the implications of installing a WooCommerce update.
Because WooCommerce is so fundamental to the way that your WordPress site works it is important to follow a procedure to ensure that your site continues to function correctly.
Introducing Free Site Migration to WP NET
-We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to choose WP NET Managed WordPress Hosting & Support. So — from today — all new sign-ups include free, managed migration for your WordPress site*.
Migrations can be tricky if you’re not familiar with the process. There are a few pitfalls to be aware of, and if you’re moving from a budget shared-server host, getting a full backup of your site can be difficult and time consuming.
WP NET’s WordPress Experts will manage the entire process for you and we’ll provide you with a temporary URL so you can test your site before you point your domain to our servers.
Sign up for a WP NET Managed WordPress Hosting & Support plan today, and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Each plan includes the following number of site migrations:
- Starter and Starter + SSL: 1 free migration
- Professional: 2 free migrations
- Business: 4 free migrations
If you have used all your allocated free site migrations, you can order additional migrations for NZD$80 per site (previously $99).
* Conditions apply, please see our Managed WordPress Hosting & Support Service Specification for details. All prices exclude GST.
Introducing Google Safe Browsing Scans
-At WP NET, our customers website security is of the utmost importance to us. We employ various, overlapping malware and virus detection systems to provide the most robust protection to our customers.
Starting today, all WP NET Managed WordPress hosted sites will be scanned daily using the Google Safe Browsing API. This is in addition to our existing server-side malware scans and Sucuri SiteCheck external scans.
Our existing uptime monitoring system also performs additional Google SafeSearch and virus / malware scans on a rotating hourly schedule.
If a scan identifies any issues, WP NET support will contact the customer directly to discuss the best course of action to remedy the problem(s).
If you have any questions regarding our security and protections systems in place, please contact NET and we’ll be happy to help.
Ph: 0800 4 WPNET | Contact
