How To Update

Keep your site running at its best

Update any plugin or theme from our catalog — automatically from your WordPress dashboard, or manually whenever you prefer.

Auto Update

Automatic updates from your dashboard

Install the Auto Updater once, connect your API key, and never touch a zip file again.

GPL Plugins Club offers a free Auto Updater plugin that lets you update plugins and themes from our catalog right inside your WordPress dashboard — no downloading zips, no re-uploading files. The Auto Updater only detects items you have previously installed from our repository that are eligible for automatic updates.

Step 1 — Install and activate the plugin

1
Download the Auto Updater
Get the plugin directly from its product page. It is included free for all active members.
2
Install and activate
In WordPress: Plugins → Add New → Upload Pluginchoose the file, click Install Nowthen Activate
3
Open the plugin dashboard
Find the GPL Plugins Club Auto Updater menu that now appears in your WordPress sidebar and open it.
4
Connect with your API key
Your API key and connection details are available at My Account → Auto Updater. Paste the key into the plugin settings and save. Confirm the connection shows Active

Step 2 — Choose how you want to update

Once connected, the plugin works in two ways. You can switch between them at any time.

Fully automatic

Set a schedule and let the plugin keep everything current in the background. You just receive an email summary after each run — no manual steps ever.

Fully Automatic — Quick Start Guide

Update with one click

Items from our catalog appear in your dashboard with a clear “update available” flag. Click Update whenever it suits you — no zip, no FTP, no leaving your site.

One Click — Quick Start Guide

Built-in safety net — every update, every time. Whether you update with one click or fully automatically, the plugin always backs up first, health-checks your site right after, and rolls back on its own to the previous working version if anything isn’t right. A temporary network hiccup won’t trigger a rollback — it only reverts when the site is genuinely broken.

What the Auto Updater detects. The plugin only recognizes and updates items you have previously installed from the GPL Plugins Club repository that are flagged as auto-update eligible. Plugins or themes installed from other sources will not appear in the updates list.

Membership quota and multi-site usage. Each item updated counts toward your account’s daily download quota — but the count is shared intelligently across all your connected sites. If you update the same plugin on Site A and Site B on the same day, it counts as one item against your daily allowance, not two. Your membership plan determines the maximum number of sites you can connect. Keep your membership active to keep receiving updates — if it lapses, your connected sites remain active but auto-updates will pause until you renew.

Requirements: WordPress 6.0 or higher and PHP 8.0 or higher.

Manual Update

Manually updating a plugin or theme

Download the new version, upload it to WordPress, confirm, and replace. Your settings stay intact.

Before you begin (recommended, not required):

Back up your site — always a good safety net in case something unexpected happens.
Use staging for bigger changes — for mission-critical sites, test updates on a staging environment first.

Need a quick staging site? Spin up a temporary WordPress install with InstaWP and test updates there before touching your live site.

1
Download the updated file
Go to My Account → Downloads, or directly from the product page, and download the latest version (a .zip file). Confirm it’s the new version by its version number.
2
Upload it in WordPress
From your dashboard: Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin → Choose File. Select the .zip and click Install Now.
For themes: Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.
3
Confirm the version
WordPress will detect the existing plugin or theme and show both the current version and the new version so you can verify you’re installing the correct release.
4
Replace the existing version
Click “Replace current with uploaded.” WordPress swaps the files and keeps all your settings, configuration, and data exactly as they were.

After the update, your plugin or theme stays configured exactly as before, but now benefits from the latest features, fixes, and security improvements.

Double-zipped files: Some items (especially from Themeforest/Codecanyon) come with a zip inside a zip. If you see an error like “The package could not be installed. The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.” — unzip the outer file first and install the inner .zip.

Quick checklist

Manual update in 4 steps

Download the latest version from your account.
Upload the .zip in WordPress.
Confirm current vs. new version number.
Click “Replace current with uploaded.”

Recommended: back up your site first, or test on staging before updating your live site.

Request Update

Requesting a file update

If an item is behind the latest vendor version, report it directly from the product page and we’ll get it updated.

1 On the product page

Click “Report — Some issue?”

Find the Report button in the product info bar at the top of the product page and click it to open the report popup.

2 In the popup

Select the issue type

In the Any issue? dropdown, select “A new version is available.” A confirmation message will appear.

3 Enter the version

Enter the expected version

Type the version number you’re expecting in the Expected Version field, then click Send Report.

4 Once updated

Download the new version

Once the update appears in Latest Updates, download it: members go directly to the product page; individual access goes to My Account → Downloads.

Click “Report — Some issue?” on the product page, select “A new version is available,” enter the version number, and send your report.