WP Lookout is no longer available as of August 1st, 2022.
The information on this page is likely out of date. Read the announcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does WP Lookout work?
Check out this quick intro video to see WP Lookout in action:
Does WP Lookout handle theme or plugin updates for me?
No. WP Lookout is solely a tracking and alerting service, and does not handle making any actual changes to your WordPress sites There are a number of other great tools out there to help you with this, and the core WordPress software is steadily adding new features to assist with theme and plugin updates, both manual and automatic.
Is there a limit on the number of sites I can track?
No, WP Lookout’s tracking is not based on the number of sites you manage. If you use the same five plugins across one thousand sites, that’s still just five plugins that we’ll track updates for.
How do I hide WP Lookout from clients on the sites I manage for them?
Since you can use WP Lookout without touching your client sites, they will not be aware of it by default and will just think you are really on top of things!
If you choose to install our companion plugin to automatically import and update the list of themes and plugins you are tracking (recommended), you can use a WP CLI command to hide the WP Lookout settings page from display on a given site, even for other Administrator users:
$ wp wplookout hide_settings_page true
To un-hide the page:
$ wp wplookout hide_settings_page false
Note that WP Lookout will still display in any list of installed and active plugins on the site. For security and best practices we do not offer a way to change that, but you could choose to do this in your theme or plugin code.
Will I still get update notifications if my site is down or hacked?
Yes. As long as WP Lookout already knows about the theme or plugin you wanted to track, it doesn’t matter whether it’s working on any particular site at any particular time, you can still get notifications about updates to it. Having WP Lookout be a standalone service from your actual WordPress sites ensures you’re not dependent on any particular WordPress workflow for learning about important updates.
Can’t I just turn on auto-updates and forget about all this?
Even though it’s typical to upgrade a plugin or theme without any problems for your site, we’re still talking about software that can have bugs, security vulnerabilities, performance issues or breaking changes. When you allow new versions to be installed on your site automatically, you take a risk (however small) that something won’t be as expected, and that you might not know about it until much later. This could be fine for many users, but on sites where uptime is critical, or for WordPress professionals who are responsible for the performance, stability and security of the sites they manage, it’s important to follow the details of plugin and theme updates more carefully. Read more about why you need more than just auto-updates.
How do I suggest a new plugin or theme that could be tracked?
We’re regularly adding new kinds of themes and plugins (that aren’t already on WordPress.org) that can be tracked by our users. If you have one you’d like to see us add, please get in touch.
How do I cancel or delete my account?
While logged into your account, visit “Profile” and then look for the “Account Management” section where you’ll find a “Delete Account” button. After confirming that you want to delete your account, your account will be immediately deactivated, all of your trackers, sites, notification destinations and other account data will be removed. You will not be able to log in to your account again, though you can always sign up for a new account in the future. If you have any trouble, please send us a note either via our contact form or support chat in the lower right corner of the site. Don’t worry, we won’t ask you why (though if you want to tell us, that’s helpful) or try to convince you to keep your account active.