Manage plugins and themes with 'WordPress Toolkit'

This topic covers processes relating to a cPanel service.
You will need to be logged into the cPanel account to follow the steps.
If you're not sure how to access your cPanel service — please, follow this guide before continuing: How do I Login to cPanel?

cPanel's WordPress Toolkit provides an easy-to-use platform where you can manage and update plugins and themes for your WordPress websites.

PLEASE NOTE: Some advanced features of the WordPress Toolkit, such as staging/cloning tools, are only available to users of Business or Corporate hosting plans.

You can access the WordPress Toolkit from the vertical menu on the left-hand side of the cPanel interface or from the list of tools in the “Domains” section. 

The WordPress Toolkit has a main dashboard, pictured below. 

From here, you can log in to the WordPress site, access the File Manager, update plugins/themes, use the clone tool, enable ‘Maintenance Mode’ and more.

If you don’t see a site preview image and the WP Toolkit options, click the ‘expand icon' (down arrow) next to your site in the list. 

TO UPDATE PLUGINS AND THEMES:

1. Click the 'Plugins' or 'Themes' tab

2. You will then see a list of plugins installed for this instance of WordPress. If a plugin is reported to have a newer version, "Updates" will appear next to the plugins/themes with available updates. 

Please note: Some paid/premium plugins that require licencing may need to be updated manually - please see the plugin author's documentation for more detail.

3. Clicking on any of the 'Updates' links will take you to the Updates options. This will open a pop-up window on the left, shown below. 

4. Click the checkbox next to each of the plugins/themes you'd like to update. (Placing a tick in the top checkbox, next to 'Name', will select all available items)

5. Then, click 'Update' when you're ready

6. You will see notifications about the updates at the top and a progress bar at the bottom.

When complete, you'll see a "All selected items were updated successfully" message.

TO ENABLE AND DISABLE PLUGINS:

Many site issues can be attributed to plugins that are outdated, incompatible with other plugins/themes/site builders etc or have been poorly created to begin with.

Disabling plugins/themes can be useful for troubleshooting issues with your WordPress site. By deactivating a suspected plugin, or all of them and activating one at a time, you can narrow down potential culprits causing trouble with your site.

1. From the WordPress Toolkit Plugins tab, note the "Active" column and the toggle switch next to each plugin.

2. Simply click the 'Active' toggle icon to switch the plugin/theme on or off (active plugins/themes will be switched to the right and show a blue colour - inactive will show as grey and be switched to the left).