{"id":671,"date":"2026-10-26T03:49:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T03:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T03:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T03:49:46","slug":"software-updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Software updates"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"sfl-hero sfl-hero-s\"><div class=\"sfl-w\"><div class=\"sfl-bc\"><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/\">Learn<\/a> \/ <a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/\">Glossary<\/a> \/ <a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/#topic-security\" style=\"color:#F87171\">Security &amp; Backups<\/a><\/div><h1>Software Updates <em>Explained.<\/em><\/h1><div class=\"sfl-def\"><small>In one sentence<\/small>Software updates are new versions of your website&#8217;s core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.<\/div><\/div><\/section><div class=\"sfl-w sfl-art\"><article class=\"sfl-prose\"><h2>What It Is<\/h2><p>A WordPress website is built from many pieces of software, including WordPress itself, your theme, each plugin, and the programming language (PHP) running on the server. Their developers release updates regularly. Some add features, but many quietly fix security problems that have been discovered. Updating is like getting the recall repairs done on your car: easy to put off, but the issue does not go away on its own.<\/p><h2>Why It Matters for Your Business<\/h2><p>Most hacked small-business sites were not targeted personally. They were found by bots scanning for a known flaw in an outdated plugin. Once a fix is published, the flaw is public knowledge, so sites that wait are easy targets. Updates also keep your site compatible with newer browsers and newer server software, which helps prevent strange errors down the road.<\/p><h2>Good to Know<\/h2><p>Update regularly, but do it carefully. Make a backup or restore point first, update one item at a time when possible, and check key pages like your contact form and checkout afterward. Delete plugins and themes you are not using, since they can still be exploited even when switched off. If you never have time, a managed WordPress hosting plan can handle updates for you.<\/p><div class=\"sfl-box\"><h4>Related terms<\/h4><div class=\"sfl-rel\"><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/plugin\/\">Plugin<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/wordpress\/\">WordPress<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/php\/\">PHP<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/restore-point\/\">Restore point<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/managed-wordpress-hosting\/\">Managed WordPress hosting<\/a><\/div><\/div><nav class=\"sfl-pn\"><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/smtp\/\"><small>\u2190 Previous<\/small><b>SMTP<\/b><\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/spf-record\/\" class=\"r\"><small>Next \u2192<\/small><b>SPF record<\/b><\/a><\/nav><\/article><aside class=\"sfl-aside\"><div class=\"sfl-box sfl-box-o\"><h4>Want hosting handled?<\/h4><p>Fast, secure WordPress hosting with updates, backups and monitoring taken care of.<\/p><a class=\"sfl-btn sfl-btn-w\" href=\"\/fr\/wordpress-hosting\/\">See WordPress hosting<\/a><\/div><div class=\"sfl-box\"><h4>Step-by-step guides<\/h4><div class=\"sfl-rel sfl-col\"><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/guides\/update-wordpress-safely\/\">How to Update WordPress, Themes and Plugins Safely<\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"sfl-box\"><h4>More in Security &amp; Backups<\/h4><div class=\"sfl-chips\"><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/ssl-tls-certificate\/\">SSL\/TLS certificate<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/https\/\">HTTPS<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/certificate-authority\/\">Certificate authority<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/firewall\/\">Firewall<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/web-application-firewall\/\">Web application firewall<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/malware\/\">Malware<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/brute-force-attack\/\">Brute-force attack<\/a><a href=\"\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/ddos-attack\/\">DDoS attack<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/aside><\/div><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"DefinedTerm\",\"name\":\"Software updates\",\"description\":\"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/\",\"inDefinedTermSet\":{\"@type\":\"DefinedTermSet\",\"name\":\"Business Website 101 Glossary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/\"}}<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn \/ Glossary \/ Security &amp; Backups Software Updates Explained. In one sentenceSoftware updates are new versions of your website&#8217;s core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features. What It Is A WordPress website is built from many pieces of software, including WordPress itself, your theme, each plugin, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":532,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sitefitters-canvas.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Software Updates: What It Means | Website Glossary","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.","sfb_learn":"1","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-671","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.7 (Yoast SEO v28.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Software Updates: What It Means | Website Glossary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Software updates are new versions of your website&#039;s core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Software updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Software updates are new versions of your website&#039;s core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sitefitters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/software-updates\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/software-updates\\\/\",\"name\":\"Software Updates: What It Means | Website Glossary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-26T03:49:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/software-updates\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/software-updates\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/software-updates\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business Website 101\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Website Glossary A\u2013Z\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/learn\\\/glossary\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Software updates\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sitefitters\",\"description\":\"Custom Websites, Apps &amp; WHMCS experts\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sitefitters\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/sitefitters-logo-elephant-dot.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/sitefitters-logo-elephant-dot.png\",\"width\":717,\"height\":140,\"caption\":\"Sitefitters\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sitefitters.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Software Updates: What It Means | Website Glossary","description":"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Software updates","og_description":"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.","og_url":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/","og_site_name":"Sitefitters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/","url":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/","name":"Software Updates: What It Means | Website Glossary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T03:49:46+00:00","description":"Software updates are new versions of your website's core software, themes and plugins that fix security holes and bugs and sometimes add features.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/software-updates\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business Website 101","item":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Website Glossary A\u2013Z","item":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/learn\/glossary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Software updates"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/","name":"Sitefitters","description":"Custom Websites, Apps &amp; WHMCS experts","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#organization","name":"Sitefitters","url":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/sitefitters-logo-elephant-dot.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/sitefitters-logo-elephant-dot.png","width":717,"height":140,"caption":"Sitefitters"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/671\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sitefitters.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}