WordPress Core Update 5.5 issue[ 3 min read ]

Last week WordPress released a significant update to the WordPress core – version 5.5. The three main changes are increased speed, new functionality around search and updated security.

But, the standout feature for us is that you can now set plugins and themes to auto-update. This is great if you’re running a site which is pretty stable as you don’t need to worry about keeping everything secure, making your website more secure.

However, this version of WordPress has broken a couple of sites because a migration tool known as ‘jquery-migrate’ is no longer enabled by default. The mean symptom being some of your whizzier parts, or even visual builders, might not be working anymore.

We look after a good number of websites for clients but we only had a handful of websites affected by this so it’s not going to be everyone. But, if you were, here’s how to fix it.

First, try installing this plugin: https://wordpress.org/plugins/enable-jquery-migrate-helper/

This will enable the missing function and get everything back to normal again, in theory. Once it’s activated, there’s nothing else to do so check if your website is looking as it should. If it is, you can skip Step Two.

If you’re still having issues then you will need to rollback to the previous version of WordPress which can be done using this plugin: https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-downgrade/
The version of WordPress you’ll need is 5.4.2 and once you’ve typed in the box, press the save.

Then the screen will have another button to press that will take you to the next screen where you’ll need to press ‘re-install now’ button to complete the rollback to version 5.4.2.

These are only temporary solutions, once your theme or plugins are updated then they should be unnecessary so keep checking back.
If you had to use Step 2., check more regularly as not having the latest version of WordPress can leave you open to security loopholes etc. 

 

And, if your site is really broken, get in touch, using the form below, and we should be able to help.