It is always important to stay up-to-date on the latest files for your website. The backend of your site contains many files of code in four main areas that work together to display your site on the browser that is constantly under development: 1. WordPress, 2. Your theme, 3. Plugins, 4. PHP (code that resides on the host server. It sends and receives signals to and from the browser.)
Since all the lines of code have to talk to each other, every update has a risk of something breaking but usually everything goes smoothly. That’s why it’s so important to back everything up; then you can restore the site if anything goes wrong.
The owner of the hosting company is responsible for keeping the servers up-to-date on the latest PHP code. If your host is upgrading your PHP, they should notify you and recommend that your site is backed up, and as your website developer, I recommend we also make sure all the files are up-to-date as well so everything is updated to the latest versions and it all works together.
Here at Parker Creative, we check and update all of your files on a quarterly basis for a nominal fee of $15.00 a month to be paid quarterly. This assures your site will always be up-to-date. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.