Is there any way to allow a plugin to write over a previous version?

If you’re manually installing a plugin, you need to disable and delete the old version. However, WordPress does allow you to update your plugin programatically.

If your plugin is hosted on the WordPress.org repository, it will prompt the users to install updates for you. You’ve likely seen this with Akismet and other plugins already.

If your plugin isn’t hosted on the WordPress.org repository, there are a few other things you can do. Many premium theme/plugin shops are including their own update scripts in their releases. It allows them to push out updates to their customers that use the standard WordPress update mechanisms to download the new package, install it, and remove old files.

Here are just a few examples:

Related Posts:

  1. Difference Between Filter and Action Hooks?
  2. Which hook should be used to add an action containing a redirect?
  3. add_action hook for completely new post?
  4. Get a path to a different plugin
  5. WordPress Hook for user register
  6. Is there widely accepted phpDoc syntax for documenting which hook calls a function?
  7. Explanation of the “posts_join” and “posts_fields” filter hooks?
  8. What’s the earliest point I can get the queried object ID?
  9. How do I Make a Theme “plugin-ready”?
  10. WordPress scheduled task is called but not executed
  11. How to modify post content before writing to database?
  12. How do I handle multiple Submit buttons in plugin’s option page?
  13. What’s the difference between hooks, filters and actions? [duplicate]
  14. How to use filter hook ‘post_updated_messages’ in coherence with action hook ‘save_post’
  15. How to check if certain plugin exists and in expected version
  16. Plugin development, hooks, generate content
  17. Is it possible to create an action hook using do_action() within add_action()?
  18. Dynamically Override Fancy Title
  19. Hook event for upload image in the menu
  20. Help with callback using do_action_ref_array
  21. Install widget on plugin activation
  22. Adding Automatically To In WordPress Using Filter Referencing?
  23. Best Practices for Creating and Handling Forms with Plugins?
  24. Is there a better way to implement responsive images than what WordPress uses by default?
  25. Woocommerce – Hide a Column in Cart Table
  26. Add tab to profile.php wordpress plugin development
  27. Use WP_Theme::scandir function to scan a plugin directory. Is there a way?
  28. How do I change the initial quantity of a product in woocommerce?
  29. How to delete an user including data from custom database tables
  30. Should action callbacks start with a verb?
  31. Execute Hook on the footer or header after activating a plugin
  32. Why is my javascript not invoked in my hooks except wp_head?
  33. Namespaced action and filter tags
  34. What filter should I use to insert a button inside on Media>Add New
  35. get_current_screen() return null
  36. .mo translation strings not loading in PHP scripts that handle AJAX calls
  37. How to use a hook to override an update_post_meta call in a plugin?
  38. External Authentication, session_tokens not destroyed on logout
  39. Trying to understand order and frequency of action hooks firing
  40. correct way to call javascript into hook function
  41. Prefixing plugin hooks (actions/filters) with a wrapper class or functions
  42. Send push when new post is published in a certain category
  43. How to stop activation addon if the main plugin is not activated
  44. template_redirect or admin-ajax.php?
  45. WordPress custom taxonomy check box to dropdown
  46. Force HTTPS 301 redirect with hook
  47. use of do_action() without any functions attached
  48. What action hook can I use to add a JavaScript to a page post using a theme template that is not including get_header() nor get_footer()?
  49. How to get all queries’s results after they have executed?
  50. Plugin uninstall function is not working
  51. Bug: Post needs to be updated twice when adding action for save_post hook
  52. Remove an action by extending class and replacing it
  53. Trying to get class to instantiate ONCE (or, “why do I keep punching myself in the head?”)
  54. Bind a function with its own argument to show something dynamically after every content
  55. Why enqueue styles on hook?
  56. What’s the hook for filtering every texts of site?
  57. Hook add_attachment error
  58. WooCommerce change Tax Class programmatically when Recalculating an existing Order [closed]
  59. Update variable value via add_filter
  60. hook update_option/updated_option empty $old_value and $value
  61. Hide one specific woocoomerce product
  62. How to find list of all functions bind to a particular hook from my plugin?
  63. Can I Hook Into the TinyMCE Insert/Edit Link Button to Use Shortlink For Post?
  64. Redirect returning users to a certain page?
  65. Restrict certain actions to plugin-specific admin menu pages only
  66. Set the payment processor callbacks to a plugin
  67. How to enhance a self developed plugin by its own plugin architecture
  68. How to update global variables in plugin activation callback?
  69. Plugin Install Issue “-1” Appended to end of plugin name
  70. Add two button to page and post admin to redirect to : add new & list of (posts – pages) just after saving post or page
  71. `registration_errors` filter doesn’t seem to be called
  72. How to grab data after wp user search is complete
  73. Why does do_action pass a blank string as the first parameter if no $arg is set?
  74. Add a custom submenu under submenu in a Custom WordPress Plugin
  75. Hook for validating and rejecting frontend image upload
  76. Does hooking into a plugin action / filter override the plugin’s function for that hook?
  77. Nested Hooks with do_action for performance reasons – safe/necessary?
  78. WordPress Plugin Boilerplate – add actions and/or filters based on user’s role
  79. OOP development and hooks
  80. remove different admin menu for specific users
  81. replacing jquery google cdn with a new version dynamically
  82. how to retrieve post_id under woocommerce_add_to_cart_validation hook?
  83. How and when would I implement some code which would take data from one part of the Db and put it in another?
  84. add_option_{$option} action hook not being called
  85. plugin modal/popup integration best practice
  86. Function not working on any file other than the main plugin file
  87. I can install my plugin in localhost but not in my server
  88. How to make auto installer Plugin?
  89. Get user logged in status from within a plugin. $current_user not defined
  90. Plugin SVN folder structure
  91. how to insert content into wp_head after loop_end
  92. Insert plugin html content to a specific spot in the frontpage
  93. Apply function on all action hooks?
  94. Send Webhook when post-status is publish or trash
  95. Using “add_image_size” to register custom image sizes inside plugins not working
  96. get_term_by() returning null on plugin
  97. wp_head is not fired from the hook I have used in my plugin
  98. Trigger a JavaScript function based on the data fetched from Woo commerce hook
  99. Ninja Forms: Front-End Forms, Post ID?
  100. Execute callback after REST API request completes + Response is sent