WordPress Broke My Site!

Is your WordPress site down? This may be why.

August 2020 – WordPress 5.5 turned off jQuery Migrate, a tool that WordPress has included for many years to help plugins and themes with outdated code still run properly. By turning jQuery Migrate off, many outdated plugins and themes no longer work properly, which can result in broken websites.

Issues may include:

  • white screen when attempting to access your URL
  • forms not sending as anticipated
  • features not working or missing (timers, calendars, animations, etc…) 

Here’s why…

What is jQuery Migrate?

jQuery Migrate is a javascript library that has helped theme and plugin developers preserve the compatibility of deprecated jQuery code. Basically, jQuery Migrate helped old code run properly on the current jQuery version and later. Query Migrate was intended to help developers during the transitional period as they replace their code with more modern code (or remove it entirely).

Why Did WordPress 5.5 Remove jQuery Migrate?

Older versions of jQuery are no longer supported, so it is necessary for WordPress to update coding standards. As WordPress prepares to make the transition to updating to the latest supported version of jQuery, removing jQuery Migrate was a required first step to make sure plugins and themes are up to date and no longer using deprecated code.

Why is My Site Broken After Updating to WordPress 5.5?

Quite simply: you are running a plugin or theme that has outdated code. After updating to WordPress 5.5, outdated plugins or themes will no longer function properly.

Since the outdated code in a plugin or theme is no longer supported by WordPress core, it may break your website.

 

Sourced from original Article by Kristen Wright – Aug 19, 2020 | ithemes.com

Note: Plugins and themes with outdated code pose a major security risk to your website, so it’s a best practice to not use old plugins and themes that have been abandoned by their developers. If you are unsure how to safely update your website(s) please Contact Us about our maintenance programs.