Update WordPress version

Make sure to backup your WordPress data

There are three different ways on how you can backup your WordPress data:

• The company where you host your webpage might have an automatic backup of the data already in place or allow you to do a manual one
• You can follow the WordPress instructions on the official website present at https://wordpress.org/support/article/wordpress-backups/
• You can use a third-party plugin such as BackWPup, UpdraftPlus, VaultPress (Jetpack Backup), BackupBuddy, Duplicator, or any other backup plugin available.

You have two options to update your WordPress plugin version:

A) Upgrade the plugin without losing data

You can upgrade the plugin just by copying source code files. To do this, you need to have access to your server by FTP or ssh protocol for coping files. You can use as examples such FTP clients as FileZilla and etc.

Once you're connected to your site via FTP, use the folder structure in the Remote site tab to navigate to your plugins folder. You can see the path in the screenshot below:

Then, rename the folder for the plugin hostaway (/wp-content/plugins/hostaway) by right-clicking on it and choosing Rename. You right-click and rename it hostaway-old

While you can always just delete the old plugin right away – renaming it ensures that you still have the files readily available in case something goes wrong. Once you verify everything works, you will need to delete the old version, though.

Once the folder is renamed, you need to download the most recent version of the plugin.

Then, use a tool to open the .zip file you downloaded and extract. Then, find the extracted folder in the Local site tab of your FTP program and upload it to the plugins folder on your server.

Once the file upload completes, your plugin should be updated to the latest version. You can verify this by going to the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard.

Make sure to double check that the plugin is still activated (it should be). Then, as long as you don't see any bugs, you should go ahead and delete the old folder from your server using your FTP program.

Note – until you delete the old folder, you might see the plugin listed twice in your Plugins tab. That's normal and will go away once you delete the old folder.

B) Deactivate and delete the old version

In the WordPress backend, go to the left menu Plugins > Installed Plugins, deactivate the plugin and delete it.

When deleting the plugin, if a warning popups up stating "Are you sure you wish to delete these files and data" proceed with the deletion.

Install and activate the new version

In the WordPress backend, go to the left menu Plugins > Add New, click Upload Plugin and then select the downloaded new version plugin zip file, install and activate it as per the instructions in the User Guide WordPress plugin

Clear WordPress Caches

If you have installed a WordPress js/CSS minify plugin or WordPress cache plugin, for example, Autoptimize, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache, WP Super Cache, empty all caches from the plugin.
Some web hosts, for example, GoDaddy, WPEngine, SiteGround, DreamHost, will also cache web files. You need to clear caches of the web hosting before testing. Please contact your web hosting provider and ask about how to clear caches.
Clear caches of your web browser before testing.