WordPress Version Check

What it does

The aim of the plugin is to help people keep up to date with new wordpress version releases. (For more info see the original plugin announcement.)

How it works

The plugin takes a simple approach to get the users attention. Once activated it checks an XML-RPC webservice for update news displaying a message at the top of every page in the wordpress admin user-interface. It will check for an update to the message every 15 mins with an additional check being kicked off if the installed wordpress version changes so as to give instant feedback on upgrades.

Possible Changes/Known Issues

The following changes have been suggested for implementationbefore the plugin hits version 1.0:

  • When you’re using the latest version, just show a dim grey “up-to-date” line.
    • Version 0.80 does this as standard.
  • wp_version_check() Template Tag.
  • Optional email sent when new message detected to help track the many installs supported by some people for friends
    • Version 0.90 has this functionality
  • Hello Dolly incompatible – As this plugin uses the same piece of screen real estate as Hello Dolly you can’t run both at the same time.
  • …. your suggestion here ….

The following bugs have been identified:

  • Hard to see the message when using the Tiger Admin UI Plugin.
    • In Version 0.80 Tiger Admin UI plugin is now detected and alternative css is delivered for the Tiger Admin.
    • In Version 0.90 MarkJ’s improved css is delivered for the Tiger Admin.
  • Plugin contacts the service every 15mins when the blog is viewed rather than every 15mins when the admin pages are viewed.
    • Fixed in version 0.80 does this as standard.
  • XML-RPC Error codes are not reported properly
    • Fixed in version 0.91

Download

The latest version of the plugin may be downloaded here: pjw_wp_version_monitor.1.00.zip

Examples

To see examples of the plugin in use see the original plugin announcement.

92 thoughts on “WordPress Version Check

  1. Pingback: 何如保护你的wordpress博客安全 » Rapid Search

  2. Pingback: Xebber’s Blog Request » WordPress 2.3.2

  3. There seems to be a problem with your plugin since 04.02.2008 – wp2.3.3 when xmlrpc.php has been patched to security vulnerability.
    Since then i get:
    Version check failed! – Unknown WordPress version.

    I’ll look into it but i’m not familiar with wp xmlrpc.

  4. @eti: Fixed – I had forgotten to update the web service that the plugin uses to find out the information displayed.

  5. Ok, it works now. I was under the impression that the webservice was running on wordpress.org, but after looking at the code I’ve seen it’s actually running on your server. Doesn’t wordpress.org offer such service? (that would get automatically updated)

  6. Eric

    I’ve got WP 2.2.3 installed, which is part of the (still-maintained) 2.2 branch. The 2.3 branch has recently gotten a security fix, which I assume does not apply to 2.2.3, but now, the plugin is telling me that there’s a new version available with security fixes and that I should upgrade, all in blinking red letters. Any way that the plugin can distinguish between security fixes that I need (i.e., if I had 2.3.x < 2.3.3) and those that I don’t (i.e., since I have 2.2.3 installed)? Thanks…

  7. @Eric: WordPress 2.2 is not still maintained. The only old release branch that receives security updates is the 2.0 branch which the plugin supports successfully.

  8. Eric

    OK, then I must be confused, or the WP Release Archive page incorrect. It says:

    This is an archive of every release we’ve done that I have a record of.

    None of these are safe to use, except the latest in the 2.0 or 2.2 series, which are both actively maintained.

  9. vkaryl

    @eti: The 2.3+ branch of WP seems to have an inbuilt notification similar to Westi’s plugin – which seems to be running on wordpress.org’s servers from as much as I can tell about it on the one install of 2.3 I have around.

Comments are closed.