--- title: "The WordPress update 💡" url: "https://ploi.io/news/the-wordpress-update" published: "2026-04-28" last_updated: "2026-04-28" --- # The WordPress update 💡 The WordPress update ==================== We've spent the last two months turning Ploi into a proper home for your WordPress sites. What started as basic WP-CLI plumbing is now a full WordPress control panel: manage plugins and themes in bulk, deploy multiple Git repositories per site, clone an entire WordPress install (database and all) to another server, and run search-replace right from the dashboard. Everything is also exposed through the API, so you can wire it into your own automation. Here's everything that landed. A new WordPress dashboard ------------------------- Every WordPress site in Ploi now has a dedicated WordPress page packed with the things you actually open phpMyAdmin or SSH for today. - **Statistics overview** — version, post and page counts, comments, users, active plugins, current theme, and pending updates, all on the site's general page. Cached for 24 hours with a one-click refresh. - **WP\_DEBUG toggle** — flip debugging on or off without editing `wp-config.php` by hand. We set `WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY=false` automatically so errors never leak to your visitors, and there's an in-panel log viewer with load, refresh, and clear actions. - **Smarter config detection** — Ploi now auto-detects `wp-config.php` whether it lives in your web directory or one level up, and "Environment file location" was renamed to the more accurate "Configuration file location" (it covers both `.env` and `wp-config.php`). ![](https://ploi.io/storage/7GdJL7d9PwNaWngvjxL2TIqmkRi1vcUg6Ens6E7h.png) Plugin and theme management --------------------------- This is the big one. No more `wp plugin install foo` over SSH. - **Install plugins by WordPress.org slug** with an optional "activate immediately" toggle. - **Install themes** the same way, with a handy link to browse the free theme directory. - **Delete plugins and themes** safely, with a confirm modal and a clean `wp-cli uninstall --deactivate` under the hood. - **Bulk actions** — checkboxes on every row, select-all in the header, and a blue action bar that lets you activate, deactivate, update, or delete many plugins (or update/delete many themes) in a single WP-CLI call. Deletes still ask for confirmation. - **MU-plugin awareness** — must-use plugins are marked with a blue "Auto-enabled" badge and excluded from bulk selection so you don't accidentally try to manage them. ![](https://ploi.io/storage/S3dGtO7XDsRWNcO3j5BXku9Mtz71msHQBc6v5WC1.png) Search & Replace -------------------- A new "Search & Replace" tab runs `wp search-replace` against your database with the safe defaults you'd want: `--precise` and `--all-tables-with-prefix`. There's a dry-run mode so you can preview the change count before committing. Perfect for domain migrations, environment swaps, and SSL switches. ![](https://ploi.io/storage/x0bQeQhhjDQRP4lVuBYH20h9nKwzVZ3XtkwuS02g.png) Multi-repository management --------------------------- WordPress sites are rarely a single repo anymore — you've got a custom theme here, a private plugin there, maybe a mu-plugins repo. Ploi now treats them as first-class citizens. - Install, deploy, and manage **multiple Git repositories per WordPress site** — themes, plugins, or any custom path. - **Per-repo deploy scripts** so each repository can have its own build steps. - **Real-time status tracking** via broadcasting — installs and deploys updates live in the UI. - A **deploy modal with full log output** so you can watch the deploy stream and debug failures in place. - Edit, delete confirmations, full path display, and branch-aware deploy scripts included. ![](https://ploi.io/storage/iNsJm3JbkuBW3DbXkDn8FIXyCcinYN9x0maVzJxt.png) WordPress site cloning ---------------------- Cloning a WordPress site is now a one-click operation, and it actually clones WordPress — not just the files. - New cloning job handles **database creation, duplication,** `wp-config.php` **credential rewriting, and a domain-aware** `wp search-replace` in one go. - Replaces all URL variants (bare domain, `https://`, `http://`) so the clone boots up, pointing at its new home. - Works **on the same server and across servers**. - The Clone Site card is right there on the WordPress General tab. - Bonus Cloudflare fix: subdomain cloning now correctly walks up the DNS hierarchy to find the matching Cloudflare zone (e.g. `sub.example.com` → `example.com`). API: everything above, programmatically --------------------------------------- Every new WordPress capability ships with a matching API endpoint, so the same things you can click in the dashboard can be triggered from CI, scripts, or your own tooling. - Endpoints for listing, activating, deactivating, installing, updating, and deleting plugins and themes. - A search-replace endpoint with dry-run support. - A clone endpoint with a `clone_database` flag. - All WordPress API actions now run through a **queued job by default**, so long-running WP-CLI commands don't tie up your HTTP request. - Need the result inline? Pass `?ondemand=true` and the endpoint runs synchronously and returns the WP-CLI output in the response. Check all the endpoints at our [API documentation](https://developers.ploi.io/wordpress-management/complete-install). Try it ------ If you already manage WordPress sites with Ploi, the new WordPress tab, the new Repositories tab, and the cloning flow are live in your panel right now — no migration needed. If you're not on Ploi yet, this is a great moment to give it a try. WordPress hosting on your own servers, with the developer experience you'd expect from a modern panel. **Added** - Multi-repository management for WordPress sites — install, deploy, and manage multiple Git repositories per site - Edit modal, delete confirmation, full path display, and branch-aware deploy scripts for repositories - WordPress plugin and theme install and delete, with confirm modals - Bulk actions for WordPress plugins (activate, deactivate, update, delete) and themes (update, delete) - WordPress search & replace tool with dry-run support - WordPress site cloning with database duplication and `wp search-replace` for the new domain - WordPress statistics overview (version, posts, pages, comments, users, plugins, theme, updates) on the site general page - WP\_DEBUG toggle with built-in debug log viewer - Queued WordPress API actions with `?ondemand=true` for synchronous responses - WordPress API endpoints for plugins, themes, search-replace, and clone - Native rclone backup driver type - FTP backup file tracking and rotation for database and site backups - Variable injection via deploy webhooks for applications - Search servers and sites by ID in global search - Tags for sites in global search results - Automatic DPA generator - View logs button on deploy failed and rollback emails - Helpful hint when GitLab HTTP git access is disabled - Discord community link in the welcome email - Feedback link in the subscription cancellation email - Show Server Insights in subscription plan feature lists - Show team member git providers on the site install view **Improved** - Refreshed all email templates with blue buttons, a unified footer, and updated welcome copy - Hardened DPA v2.0 to reduce processor liability - Insights tab is now visible regardless of subscription status - Show existing saved payment methods in Stripe Checkout - Health check error emails now include the server name and a manage button - WordPress configuration file handling auto-detects `wp-config.php` whether it lives in the web directory or one level up - Renamed "Environment file location" to "Configuration file location" to reflect support for both `.env` and `wp-config.php` - Cloudflare zone matching now walks up subdomain levels to find the correct parent zone **Fixed** - SEPA subscription handling — proper async payment event handling with 14-day grace period - Server installation on Ubuntu 24+ now uses `libpcre2-dev` after `libpcre3-dev` was removed upstream - Certbot now includes all domains in `webroot_map` on multi-domain certificates - Rclone backup failures resolved with `--ignore-checksum` and proper archive generation handling - Database backup local files are now cleaned up after upload - Zero-time deployment now guards against a missing repository - Server log description no longer overflows when the script label is too long - Test domain toggle now shows the correct message after state changes - Deployment limit banner no longer disappears when a free-plan user exceeds 5 deploys