kanenas — Minor/Patch Auto-Updates

kanenas — Minor/Patch Auto-Updates gives you granular control over automatic updates. While WordPress allows you to enable or disable auto-updates entirely, this adds a third option: auto-update only minor and patch versions while keeping major versions at bay.

Why Use This?

Major version updates often introduce significant changes that may:

• Break compatibility with other extensions
• Introduce new features that require testing
• Change the behavior of existing functionality
• Require database migrations or manual intervention

With this, you can:

• Receive security patches automatically – Minor and patch versions typically contain security fixes
• Get bug fixes without intervention – Patch versions are generally safe to apply automatically
• Control major updates manually – Review major version changes before applying them
• Maintain site stability – Reduce the risk of unexpected breaking changes

How It Works

It uses semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH) to determine update types:

• Major update (e.g., 1.0.0 → 2.0.0): Blocked from auto-update
• Minor update (e.g., 1.0.0 → 1.1.0): Allowed to auto-update
• Patch update (e.g., 1.0.0 → 1.0.1): Allowed to auto-update

Internally, this plugin runs only on WordPress auto-update decision filters:

• auto_update_plugin
• auto_update_theme

When you enable minor/patch mode for a plugin or theme, it also adds that item to WordPress core’s auto_update_plugins / auto_update_themes site options so the automatic updater treats it as opted-in the same way as the Plugins/Themes screen toggle.

It does not rewrite update API responses (plugins_api) and does not modify updater transients (pre_set_site_transient_update_plugins). Premium update discovery and license validation remain managed by each vendor updater.

Features

• Per-item control – Enable minor/patch auto-updates for specific items
• Easy toggle – Simple links in the admin pages
• Non-intrusive – Works alongside WordPress’s native auto-update system
• Clean uninstall – Removes all data when uninstalled
• Translation ready – Fully prepared for localization

Usage

1. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins
2. Look for the “Enable auto-updates minor/patch” link below each plugin’s auto-update setting
3. Click to enable/disable minor/patch auto-updates for that plugin

For themes: 1. Go to Appearance → Themes 2. Click on a theme to view its details 3. Look for the “Enable auto-updates minor/patch” option in the theme details overlay

Privacy Policy

This plugin does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. It only stores plugin/theme preferences in your WordPress database.