Problem

In another tutorial I wrote that automatic updates are the easiest method to update plugins in WordPress. Add the following code and WordPress will update each plugin once a new version is available. It uses the auto_update_plugin filter.

// Enable automatic updates for all plugins
add_filter('auto_update_plugin', '__return_true');

Despite being the easiest solution, I do not like it because a plugin updated automatically can break the entire website if it is not compatible with the current theme or other plugins.

Exception

Sometimes we use plugins that add minor features to the website and work completely isolated from other plugins and the current theme. I call them “helper plugins”. A plugin to replace attachments is a good example.

In these cases, enabling automatic updates may be a good choice. Add the following code and WordPress will enable automatic updates for plugins whose slug is listed in the $allowed array.

/*
 * Enables automatic updates for specific plugins.
 */
function ns_auto_update_specific_plugins($update, $plugin){

    $allowed = array('plugin-1', 'plugin-2', 'plugin-3');
    return in_array($plugin->slug, $allowed) ? true : $update;
}
add_filter('auto_update_plugin', 'ns_auto_update_specific_plugins', 10, 2);

User interface

WordPress 5.5 added a user interface to make the procedure described above easier. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins and note the Automatic Updates column. For each plugin, this column displays a link to enable or disable automatic updates.

Source code

The source code developed in this tutorial is available here.