Weekly round-up: WordPress 7.1.3 is out, so update again

A short one this week, but one item needs doing today if your business runs on WordPress.

WordPress 7.1.3: update again

WordPress released 7.1.3 on 6 October as a maintenance and security release. According to the release post it contains 7 security fixes and 4 bug fixes, and it tells site owners to update immediately. The summary I could read did not list the individual fixes, so I will not guess at them. That is the third WordPress release in under three weeks, after 7.1.1 on 17 September and 7.1.2 on 22 September, which fixed a critical vulnerability.

Sites with automatic background updates should already have moved. A lot of sites have that switched off, usually because someone once had a bad experience with an update. It takes two minutes to check. Log in, go to Dashboard, then Updates, and see which version you are on. If it says anything older than 7.1.3, update it, or message me and I will look. This is routine work for my WordPress clients, and three releases in three weeks is exactly why I would rather it was not left to chance.

If you are not sure whether your updates run automatically, ask whoever hosts or looks after the site. A good answer is specific: which updates are automatic, how often a backup is taken, and where it is stored. A vague answer is worth knowing about before the next security release, not after.

If your site runs on Nuxt

Not everyone reading this has a WordPress site. Nuxt 4.6 came out on 5 October. The notes say Nuxt 3 reached end of life on 31 July 2026, with no 3.x release alongside 4.6. So if a developer built your site on Nuxt 3, ask them what the plan is. Nothing is on fire, but a framework with no security updates is a decision to make on purpose. I cover that kind of work on my Nuxt page.

What I published this week

Last Saturday it was how to compare website quotes when they are thousands apart. On Tuesday I wrote how to brief a web developer so you get quotes you can compare, and on Thursday whether you need an SEO specialist in Hull. Tomorrow's piece asks who checks the work if your web developer uses AI, and on Tuesday I look at whether WordPress is still worth using for a small business.

One thing to do this weekend

Check your WordPress version and check your backups. If you cannot remember when your last backup ran, that is your answer.

That is this week's lot. If you want a second pair of eyes on your site, get in touch and book the free 30-minute surgery.