Frequently Asked Questions

Update Brief produces brief update summaries which provide a concise summary of both WordPress Core updates, and WordPress plugin updates. These easy to read brief summaries describe the main features of the updates, with essential information, as well as any security and critical aspects of the update.

WordPress developers, agencies and managed hosts can use these update summaries to effectively show the value of the on-going update and maintenance services, they are providing to their clients.

There are currently over 60,000 plugins available for WordPress. Thousands of these plugins are updated every month, with new features, bug fixes and critical security updates.

When a plugin is updated, Update Brief generates a brief update summary covering the most recent 8 versions, within the last 2 years. So, if you update a client site plugin from version 1.0.4 to 1.0.8, or 1.0.7 to 1.0.8, for example, then a brief update summary will be available.

WordPress Core updates also have a brief update summary available, whenever WordPress is updated.

If the same plugin is used across multiple sites, all updates to that plugin within the same month will be counted as a single plugin update - regardless of how many sites it’s applied to.

So, if you have multiple client sites with WooCommerce, for example, installed then updating this plugin across all of your client sites will only count as 1 plugin for that month.

Similarly, if that plugin is updated multiple times during the month, then again it just counts as 1 plugin.

Yes, if a plugin has been updated through multiple versions at once (for example, jumping from 1.1.1 to 1.1.5), Update Brief combines the changes into a single, easy-to-read summary covering all intermediate versions.

Similarly, if you were to update WordPress from 6.8 to 6.8.3 at once, then one brief summary will cover all of these version updates.

Yes, Update Brief does generate brief update summaries for some of the most popular premium plugins available for WordPress. These premium plugins include Gravity Forms, Elementor Pro, MemberPress, WooCommerce Bookings, WooCommerce Subscriptions, and WP Rocket, as well as many others.

The list of current premium plugins is available here. As a customer with an active subscription you can request we add additional premium plugins, by contacting us.

The latest update summaries for WordPress and premium plugins are generated between midnight and 2 AM Eastern Standard Time every day.

Update summaries for WordPress Core updates are generated soon after the WordPress core update is released.

You have full access to the Update Brief API and all the features of your selected subscription plan, free for 14 days.

No payment is taken when you start your 14-day free trial, or if you cancel before your free trial ends. We will email you a reminder, 7 days before your free trial ends.

You can cancel your free trial at any time online.

No, your subscription is monthly and auto-renews every month. You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel your Update Brief subscription at any time.

Upgrades take effect immediately, while downgrades and cancellations become effective at the end of your current billing period.

Update Brief accepts all major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

All card payments are securely processed by Stripe.

All Update Brief subscription plans are billed in United States Dollars.

Depending on your country of residence then local taxes, or VAT, may be added to your Update Brief subscription price.

In all cases, you will see the total price, including any tax, at the Checkout before you complete your transaction.

All UK customers will have 20% VAT added to their monthly subscription, as required by HMRC regulations.

To ensure that there is no interruption in providing our brief update summaries to your clients, please follow these steps:-

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Update Payment Details” button,

4) Then, enter your updated payment card details in the Stripe billing portal

You can upgrade or downgrade your Update Brief subscription plan at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately, while downgrades become effective at the end of your current billing period.

To change your subscription plan, follow these steps:-

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Change Subscription Plan” button,

4) Then on the displayed pricing table, select your chosen new subscription plan to proceed.

All new subscription plans are prorated.

We don't believe in making you jump through hoops to cancel your subscription. If you need to cancel your Update Brief subscription, simply follow these steps:-

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Cancel Subscription Plan” button,

4) Then, click on the “Cancel subscription” button in the Stripe billing portal.

Your cancellation will become effective at the end of your current billing period.

To authenticate with the Update Brief API, you need an active subscription and an API Token. To create an API token, follow these steps:-

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “API Tokens” link,
(Please note that this menu link, is not available, if you do not have an active subscription)

2) Within “API Tokens” page, enter a name for your API Token and click on the “Create” button,

3) Your Api Token will then be displayed for one time only,

4) Please copy your new API token. For your security, it won't be shown again,

5) To use the API, please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

The API will always return a JSON response.

For a successful plugin update summary request, the response will include the status of the request, plugin slug, the start version and end version, and the summary, as in the example below:-

{
"status": "200",
"plugin_slug": "seo-by-rank-math",
"start_version": "1.0.253",
"end_version": "1.0.255",
"summary": "This update improves search engine optimization by allowing users to view and edit SEO titles and descriptions for taxonomy terms. It also fixes several bugs, including a broken keyboard shortcut for Content AI, issues with removing Open Graph thumbnails, a PHP warning, and a missing preview in the Content AI Prompts library.\n"
}

For an unsuccessful update summary request, the response will include the status of the request and a message showing the nature of the error, as in the example below:-

{
"status":"401",
"message":"Unauthorized - Please check your API authorization credentials"
}

Please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

Yes, to ensure fair and efficient use of the API for all customers there is a rate limit in place for the API. This rate limit does vary depending on which subscription plan you have:-

Developer Plan: 60 requests per minute,

Agency Plan: 60 requests per minute,

Business Plan: 60 requests per minute,

Managed Plan: 120 requests per minute

Please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

Yes, you can view the API Documentation here.

The documentation has full instructions in how to use the Update Brief API, as well as examples.

Yes, you can view the API Documentation here.

The documentation has full instructions in how to use the Update Brief API, as well as examples.

All the possible API error codes are fully documented in the API Documentation.