Auto-update control tool removed from latest version of BPS Pro

[DBR]

Hi, I’ve noticed that the changelog for the latest version of BPS Pro includes this:

Removal: The WP Automatic Update Pro-Tool has been removed due to being outdated.

Does this mean that I will have to add:

define( ‘WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE’, false );
define( ‘AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED’, true ); 

to my wp-config.php files manually now? If the tool is no longer included, will the removal of this tool also delete these constants from the sites where they are in use?

Why is this tool considered to be ‘outdated’ now? Has something changed in WP that makes it unnecessary?

Many thanks

[AITpro Admin]

The reason we removed that Pro-Tool is because WordPress no longer uses the WPLANG constant (deprecated) in the wp-config.php file and the BPS Pro WP Automatic Update tool was designed to look for the WPLANG constant in the wp-config.php file as a marker/placeholder for where to add the WP Automatic Update constants.

The WP Automatic Update constants that you posted in your forum topic above are still currently used by WordPress and are not removed/changed/modified by BPS Pro from your wp-config.php file.  The newer method that WordPress has available is using WordPress Automatic Update filters > https://wordpress.org/support/article/configuring-automatic-background-updates/

What we are going to do is use the WordPress Automatic Update filters in the BPS Pro MU Tools plugin (WordPress Plugins page > Must-use link)  in the next version of BPS Pro (14.7).  A Dismiss Notice will also be created in BPS Pro 14.7 to let people know that they can enable or disable WordPress Automatic Updates using the BPS Pro MU Tools plugin.

Potential problem scenario that will require additional BPS Pro checks and alerts:
Someone is using the older WP Automatic Update constants in their wp-config.php file and they enable or disable WP Automatic Updates using the new BPS Pro MU Tools plugin options.  BPS Pro will check if the older WP Automatic Update constants exist in the wp-config.php file and display a message stating that and what to do next to “fix” the issue.  Automating this “fix” should not be done and instead each person needs to be notified and will have to manually remove the older WP Automatic Update constants if they prefer to use the newer WP Automatic Update filters that will be included in the BPS Pro 14.7 WP Automatic Update options.

[AITpro Admin]

Also the optimum location for the new WordPress Automatic Update filters is in a must-use plugin.  The filters cannot be used in the WordPress wp-config.php file.  So updating the BPS Pro WP Automatic Update Pro-Tool was really not a doable option.

https://wordpress.org/support/article/configuring-automatic-background-updates/#configuration-via-filters

Configuration via Filters #Configuration via Filters

Using filters allows for fine-tuned control of automatic updates.

The best place to put these filters is in a must-use plugin.

Do not add add_filter() calls directly in wp-config.php. WordPress isn’t fully loaded and can cause conflicts with other applications such as WP-CLI.

[DBR]

Thanks for the prompt response and all the info.

Just to check that I understand this correctly:

• currently (BPS Pro 14.5), there is no BPS Pro MU Tools plugin (WordPress Plugins page > Must-use link). Or is this correct? None of my sites with BPS Pro have this plugin or link. All the tools are in BPS Pro > Pro-tools.
• the options to manage the various auto-update functions will be added to the Pro-tools admin area to replace the current
  WP Automatic Update tab. Or added to the BPS Pro MU Tools plugin which I don’t seem to have in any of my installations but will be added to 14.7?
• the current code used in wp-config.php will remain and still work but will need to be removed before the new functions will work properly.
• rather than using the current constants in wp-config.php, the new functions will be those that can be manually added to functions.php. E.g. add_filter( ‘automatic_updater_disabled’, ‘__return_true’ );

Is this right?

One thing that really confuses me: if the BPS Pro MU Tools plugin is supposed to already be included in my installations, what’s gone wrong? BPS Pro is at version 14.5 but all the tools are still in the Pro-tools admin area.

Cheers

[AITpro Admin]

Are you looking in the right place for the BPS Pro must-use plugin.  On the WordPress Plugin page at the very top you will see a link named Must-Use.  Click that link to view the BPS Pro MU Tools must-use plugin.  If you have a WordPress Network|Multisite website type then you would go your Network Admin > Plugins page.

The new BPS Pro MU Tools must-use plugin will have all the possible options for WP Automatic Updates.

The current WP Automatic Update constants in the wp-config.php file work now and will always work unless WordPress phases those constants out (deprecates them).  The new WP Automatic Update filters and the older WP Automatic Update constants will both work.  If you happen to have both the filters and constants in use and they have the same settings then the result is the same.  The problem would be if you have different settings. Example: The constant was set to allow WP Automatic Updates and the filter was set to disallow WP Automatic Updates.  That is why we are going to create an alert/message to let people know that they can either keep their existing constants and not use the new filters.  Or if they want to use the new filters then they should remove their old constants so that the settings are not duplicated and so that the settings will not conflict with each other.

Yes, we are going to use the new filters (automatic_updater_disabled’, ‘__return_true’ );) in the new BPS Pro MU Tools must-use plugin.  All the possible combination of filters and all filter values will be available that you see here > https://wordpress.org/support/article/configuring-automatic-background-updates/#configuration-via-filters

All of the BPS Pro Pro-Tools will remain where they are supposed to be in > Pro-Tools. The only Pro-Tool that is being removed/moved is the WP Automatic Update Pro-Tool because the optimum location to use WP Automatic Update filters is in a must-use plugin.

BPS Pro automatically creates the BPS Pro MU Tools must-use plugin on BPS Pro installation and upgrades. Let me know if you still do not see it after reading the information above.

[DBR]

Sorry for the confusion. I was looking in the wrong place. It never occurred to me that selecting ‘All’ plugins did not include the ‘Must-use’ plugins!

Thank you again for going into so much detail and explaining everything in such an easy-to-understand way. I really appreciate the quality of help and support you have always offered whenever I have had a question.

All the best

 

[AITpro Admin]

All good my friend. Reminders are what keep us all on point these days.  We need even more reminders than usual these days. LOL.

[Author]

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