AFB Update Watch

Plugins change hands. Most sales are harmless, but some buyers have pushed a malicious update to every site running the plugin they bought. WordPress.org does not tell you when a plugin you rely on gets a new owner, so the first you hear of it is often the hack.

AFB Update Watch checks every plugin you have installed from WordPress.org once a day and:

• Spots a change of owner. It records each plugin’s author and committers on WordPress.org the first time it sees it, then tells you if they change.
• Spots a closure. If a plugin is closed on WordPress.org, for a security issue or any other reason, you hear about it straight away rather than finding out it stopped getting updates.
• Holds updates until you have checked. A flagged plugin’s update is held back, from automatic updates, the Update button and bulk updates alike, until you press release.
• Guards WooCommerce updates. WooCommerce no longer holds itself back when your extensions are not marked as tested with a new version. With the guard on, a new major or minor WooCommerce release is not auto-updated until every active extension says it is tested with it, and you can see exactly which extensions are holding it up. Patch releases always go through.
• Emails you. Alerts go to the admin email, or an address you choose.

Everything runs on your own site. The only outside call is to the public WordPress.org plugin API.

Built by AFB Digital Solutions, a UK WordPress and WooCommerce developer.