Warning of modified UpdraftPlus PHP files

Hi Malae,

Most likely you’re getting that message because your have some plugin that compares your current install of UpdraftPlus with the one that can be downloaded from www.ads-software.com, and has found some differences. That can happen when a plugin author (in this case, us) modifies the current version without changing the version number (which we do sometimes in order to not force every user to update their version, which annoys them if it happens too often). Lots of plugin authors do that, so I’d say that the plugin giving you the alerts has a dodgy algorithm and they should change it to not give alerts in this situation.

Of course, the other alternative is that someone else hacked your site and modified the plugins and that it’s a genuine alert.

David

You previously asked me to update with a development version about a month ago to correct the a double back-up problem. I note from the changelog that since then,there were two updates: 1.7.0 and 1.7.1 on 20 August, which I recall making and that is the date on all my UpdraftPlus files. I am surprised though, that if all files were updated on 20 August, why modifications were found yesterday. Would you like copies of the files in question to check them?
Btw, my latest weekly backup due today, just completed without a hitch!

Hi Malae,

1.7.1 today is not the same as 1.7.1 from 7 days ago. Plugin authors sometimes make minor tweaks without updating the version number. If we update the version number for every minor tweak, then people complain that there are too many updates. The flip side is the if you have a plugin that compares your installed 1.7.1 with the 1.7.1 that can be downloaded from www.ads-software.com, then they can differ.

David

Hi David,
Thanks for your prompt explanations. It does raise questions about the automated comparing of files, but better a heads-up than not being aware of possible changes. I am very happy with the performance of UpdraftPlus and the support.

Hi Malae,

Thank you. In my opinion the plugins that do these comparisons should not be comparing with the *current* www.ads-software.com download, but with what was originally downloaded. It’s a faulty algorithm; experience shows that tweaks without changing the version number are very common – lots of plugin authors do it, so it’s going to cause a lot of false positives.

David