Test coverage and automated tests after a WordPress upgrade.

  • phoenix26

    (@phoenix26)


    1 month ago

    Every so often I upgrade core WordPress, themes and plugins to the latest available versions to keep everything updated and secure on my sites.

    I currently do a manual test- ensuring I can login, create a dummy page or post, delete the page/post and check nothing major appears in the dashboard health check. Is this enough test coverage or are there other basic things I could check to test the success of the upgrade? Note, it’s difficult to test functionality of individual plugins as there as so many and they vary from site to site.

    What’s the best way to automate these types of tests? I wondered if the above could be successfully done via CLI commands? Or do people recommend using something like Browserstack or another testing tool?

    All thoughts appreciated. TIA , P26.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • briskwebservices

    (@briskwebservices)

    Always test your updates in a staging environment before applying them to live sites.

    I use Local by Flywheel for this.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    I approach it from pretty much the opposite direction for what it’s worth. ??

    Many core WordPress releases include security fixes: https://www.ads-software.com/news/category/security/ and, given WordPress’s open source nature, it’s possible that a security fix, once publicized, could be reverse engineered into an attack on sites that haven’t been updated yet.

    Considering that, I keep auto-updates enabled for core, plugins, and themes, but I also keep real-time remote backups with Jetpack, so I can simply revert if an update goes wrong: https://jetpack.com/support/backup/restoring-with-jetpack-backup/

    threadi

    (@threadi)

    You could also check this plugin: https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/webchangedetector/ – it compares some screenshots of your website before and after the updates.

    Thread Starter phoenix26

    (@phoenix26)

    Thanks for your responses so far. We do have staging environments, which is great but increases the need for a more agile way to test after upgrades.

    Does anyone out there use CLI for this or other particular testing tools?

    Thanks.

    Thread Starter phoenix26

    (@phoenix26)

    I appreciate if anyone else has any additional thoughts on testing tools / whether to use CLI? I will look at the suggested plugin, but hoped it was easier to test without the need for additional plugins. Thanks.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

Tags